A study of the polymorphism and ethnic distribution differences of human serum paraoxonase

Abstract

The enzyme serum paraoxonase shows a polymorphism in Europeans which is governed by two alleles. The first allele has a gene frequency p_low of 0.716–0.777, and is manifested as a low activity group in homozygotes. More than 50% of all European test subjects can be included in this group. A second allele with a gene frequency q_high of 0.223–0.284 was found in typical European distributions and is manifested in both the form of a second heterozygotic and a third homozygotic group with high activities. The Hardy‐Weinberg rule for a two‐allele model is valid for the distribution. The gene frequency p_low of the first allele decreases as one moves from Europe in the direction of Africa and Asia. In typical Mongoloid and Negroid collectives, less than 10% of the population can be included in the low‐activity group, a group which is not even demonstrable in the Aborigines of Australia. The serum paraoxonase of the Aborigine population shows unimodal distribution. The validity of the Hardy‐Weinberg rule for a three‐allele model must be rejected in all examined collectives. Human serum paraoxonase shows neither age‐related changes in activity nor sex‐dependent activity differences.