Acetylation of sulfamethazine in a Nigerian population.

Sulfamethazine (syn, sulfadimidine) is inactivated by conversion to its N-acetyl derivative. Individuals are phenotyped as either "rapid" or "slow" acetylators. We have tested the validity of this theory in a Nigerian population. The frequency distribution histograms of the percentage acetylsulfamethazine in urine and serum were found to be bimodal, indicating the existence of a genetic polymorphism as observed by earlier workers. A plot of the percentage of the drug acetylated in serum against that in urine of the same individual results in a satisfactory separation of the rapid and slow acetylator phenotypes. An incidence of the slow acetylator phenotype of 41% was observed in the Nigerian population tested. How this observation fits into the hypothesis that the slow frequency of the allele increases from the Arctic Circle toward the Equator is discussed.