Application of a high performance liquid chromatography method for screening of aldehyde dehydrogenase isozyme deficiency in hair roots from different ethnic groups.

A sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method has been used to measure aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity in hair roots from Caucasian and Japanese subjects. Kinetic studies confirmed previous isoelectric focusing results that hair roots from Caucasians have two forms of ALDH, one low Km form and another high Km form, while hair roots from Japanese individuals who show a flushing reaction after ethanol intake lack, or have low activity of, the low Km form. By taking the ratio of the activities measured at a low (3 microM) and a high (75 microM) concentration of the substrate (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde), a suitable index for ALDH deficiency was obtained. The ratio varied between 1.6 and 3.5 for Caucasians and between 7 and 23 for Japanese flushers, and it was 2.5 for a Japanese nonflusher. The current method allows a more quantitative and qualitative assessment of the ALDH isozyme pattern in hair roots than that obtained with the isoelectric focusing technique.