Further evidence for the lack of association between acetylator phenotype and systemic lupus erythematosus.

An association between host acetylator phenotype and idiopathic systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been sought for over a decade, without a definitive result. We have observed that the frequency of the slow acetylator phenotype was similar in 64 patients with idiopathic SLE (38%), 60 healthy volunteers (50%), and 52 non-SLE medical service patients (44%). The slow acetylator phenotype was not more frequent among subgroups of the SLE patients defined by demographic features or specific manifestations of disease. Our results, as well as a majority of previously published results, do not provide evidence for an association between acetylator phenotype and idiopathic SLE.