Phenotype of cytochrome P450 CYP2D6 in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis

Abstract

This paper describes an attempt to establish the distribution of the oxidative phenotype of sparteine in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). The oxidative polymorphism of sparteine was determined in 30 patients with FAP. One hundred and twenty-six normal subjects were examined as a control group. Subjects with urinary metabolic ratios (MR) greater than 20 (the metabolic ratio of sparteine/dehydrosparteines excreted in urine) were defined as poor metabolizers of sparteine. None of the patients were classified as poor metabolizers of sparteine, although 5 control subjects were. No significant differences were found in the distribution of frequencies between patients and control subjects. However, there was a higher metabolic ratio (mean 1.58 +/- 1.13) in 5 patients with malignant changes in large bowel adenomas compared with other FAP patients without malignant changes (mean MR 0.89 +/- 0.66).