Acetylation status using hydralazine in African hypertensives at Kenyatta National Hospital

In this study, the investigation of hydralazine acetylator phenotype was undertaken for the first time in African hypertensives at Kenyatta National Hospital. A total of 25 randomly selected patients with moderate to severe hypertension (diastolic pressure 105-130 mmHg), participated in the phenotyping study. The phenotyping was done by administering oral standard hydralazine dose of 150 mg/day in three divided doses. The 24 hour urinary MTP/hydralazine ratio was used to categorize patients into slow and fast acetylators. Of the patients studied 69.9% were slow acetylators while 30.4% were fast acetylators. The mean 24 hour urinary MTP/hydralazine ratio for slow acetylators was 1.01 +/- 0.95. This was significantly different from the fast acetylators where the mean 24 hour urinary MTP/hydralazine ratio was 10.6 +/- 4.4 (P < 0.001). The acetylator phenotyping divided the patients into two distinct populations and no further arbitrary method was required to divide the patients into either group.