Effects of polymorphism in promoter region of human CYP2A6 gene (CYP2A6*9) on expression level of messenger ribonucleic acid and enzymatic activity in vivo and in vitro

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2A6 catalyzes nicotine C-oxidation, leading to cotinine formation, a major metabolic pathway of nicotine in humans. There are genetic polymorphisms in the human CYP2A6 gene. Previously, we demonstrated that in vivo nicotine metabolism is impaired with the CYP2A6*4, CYP2A6*7, and CYP2A6*10 alleles in Japanese subjects and Korean subjects. An allele possessing a point mutation in the TATA box termed CYP2A6*9 (T-48G) has been reported to decrease the transcriptional activity in vitro as assessed by luciferase assay. In this study we investigated the effects of the CYP2A6*9 allele on in vivo enzymatic activity by evaluating nicotine metabolism. The mutation of T-48G was found only on the CYP2A6*1A allele but not on the CYP2A6*1B allele. Allele frequencies of CYP2A6*9 in Japanese subjects (n = 92) and Korean subjects (n = 209) were 21.3% and 22.3%, respectively. In Korean subjects the cotinine/nicotine ratios as an index of nicotine metabolism in the subjects with CYP2A6*9/CYP2A6*9 (4.3 +/- 2.4) were significantly lower than those in the subjects with CYP2A6*1A/CYP2A6*9 (7.7 +/- 5.6) and CYP2A6*1A/CYP2A6*1A (10.4 +/- 9.2)(P<.05 and P <.005, respectively). In Japanese subjects a similar result was observed, although it was not significant. Thus it is suggested that the mutation in the TATA box (CYP2A6*9 allele) caused the decreased in vivo enzymatic activity. With an in vitro study, it was shown that the expression levels of CYP2A6 messenger ribonucleic acid and coumarin 7-hydroxylase activity in human livers genotyped as CYP2A6*1/CYP2A6*9 and CYP2A6*9/CYP2A6*9 tended to be lower than those in human livers genotyped as CYP2A6*1/CYP2A6*1, although there was no significant difference because of the small number of samples. These in vitro data supported the in vivo data demonstrating that the CYP2A6*9 allele caused the decreased expression level and enzymatic activity of CYP2A6.