Distribution ofα 1 phenotypes in Japanese: Description of Pi M subtypes by isoelectric focusing

Abstract

Serumα 1 phenotypes were determined by polyacrylamide gel slab isoelectric focusing in a sample from 1,271 unrelated healthy Japanese living in Tokyo. Three common Pi M subtypes (M1M1, M1M2 and M2M2) were found, and the allele frequencies estimated (Pi M1=0.83,Pi M2=0.17) were found to be similar to those observed in the European populations. A large χ2 value, however, may indicate the presence of further microheterogeneity among Pi M subtypes. In contrast with Pi M subtypes, rare variants were found only in 0.55% of the samples examined, and no Z gene was detected. A new fast variant ofα 1 named Pi ETokyo is reported.