[Genetic polymorphism in sparteine oxidation--occurrence in healthy volunteers in Slovakia]

The aim of this study was to estimate the occurrence of the phenotype of poor metabolizers of sparteine (in the frame of sparteine-debrisoquine-dextromethorphane polymorphism) in Slovakia. The authors examined a group of 216 of healthy volunteers (73 women and 143 men, average age of the group 24, 9 +/- 0.4 years), university students coming from various regions of Slovakia. The test substance-sparteine (1 x 100 mg tbl.) was administered perorally to all probands, in the evening after fasting. A 12-hour gathering of urine was subsequently performed. A sample of urine was subdued to examination. Isolation, separation, identification and assessment of the concentration of sparteine and its metabolites (2- and 5-dehydrosparteine) were performed by the method of gas chromatography. The metabolic MR ratio calculated from the ratio of the detected concentrations of sparteine and (2- and 5-dehydrosparteine) served for the assessment of the phenotype of poor (MR > 20), or rapid (MR < 20) metabolizers of sparteine in 8 authors found the poor metabolizer phenotype of 216 examined probands (i.e. in 3.75%). Its prevalence of the presented phenotype was lower than that anticipated on the basis of epidemiologic studies performed in other European countries. Study represents the first data on the phenotype of poor sparteine metabolizers in Slovakia. (Tab. 4, Fig. 1, Ref. 24.)