Genetic diversity of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 polymorphisms in North African populations from Morocco and Tunisia

The genes CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 form part of a cluster of cytochrome P450 genes involved in drug metabolism reactions. The allelic variants of these genes CYP3A4*1B, CYP3A4*3, CYP3A4*17 and CYP3A5*3 have been linked both to the reduced catalytic activity of cytochromes and to prostate cancer risk in whites, though scarce data exist for North African populations. The main objective of this study was to describe CYP3A4*3, CYP3A4*17, CYP3A4*1B and CYP3A5*3 allele frequencies and haplotype variation in Moroccan Berbers and the general Tunisian population. The data obtained for the Tunisian participants were consistent with the European allele frequency ranges described, while Moroccan Berbers showed high frequencies of CYP3A4*17 (1.8%), CYP3A4*3 (8.5%) and the CYP3A4*1B/CYP3A5*3 haplotype (18.4%). This haplotype, linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer, was detected at a much higher frequency compared with the present Tunisian population (8.4%) or with reported frequencies for populations such as whites (0.6%) or African Americans (5.3%).