Analyses of single nudleotide polymorphisms and haplotype linkage of the human ABCB1 (MDR1) gene in Korean

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MDR1 gene that are responsible for drug efflux can cause toxicity. Therefore, this study determined the SNPs of the Korean MDR1 gene, and analyzed the haplotypes and a linkage disequilibrium (LID) of the SNPs determined. The frequency of 9 SNPs from the MDR1 gene was determined by PCR-RFLP analyses of 100 to 500 healthy individuals. The frequcies of the SNPs were C3435T (47.7%), G2677T (37.6%), G2677A (4.4%), T1236C (21.7%), T129C (8%), A2956G (2.5%), T307C (1.5%), A41aG (9.2%), C145G (0%), and G4030C (0 %). Analyses of the haplotype structure and an estimation of the LID of the combined polymorphisms demonstrated that the frequency of the 1236T-2677G-3435T haplotype is much higher in Koreans (14.1%) than in Chinese and western black Africans and the C3435T SNP in Koreans appears to have LID with T129C in Koreans for the first time. These results provide insight into the genetic variation of MDR1 in Koreans, and demonstrated the possibility of a new LID in this gene.