[Relation of genetic variants of CYP2A6 with tobacco dependence and smoking habit in Chilean subjects. A pilot study].

BACKGROUND Genetic and metabolic factors associated with nicotine metabolism may be related to smoking behavior. AIM To assess the prevalence of allelic and genotype variants of CYP2A6 in a sample of Chilean subjects and to evaluate their relationship with smoking and tobacco dependence. MATERIAL AND METHODS The genotype frequencies for *2, *3 and *4 of CYP2A6*1 (wild type) gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 54 volunteers. Addiction to tobacco was evaluated using the Fagerstrom Test. The association between the presence of allelic variants of CYP2A6 and smoking and tobacco dependence was evaluated with chi square test. RESULTS The prevalence of *1, *2 (wt/*2), *3 (wt/*3 or *31*3) and *4 (del/del) were 92.6%, 3.7%, 0% y 3.7%, respectively. No significant association was observed between being a carrier of a variant genotype of CYP2A6 and smoking or tobacco dependence. CONCLUSIONS In this sample of Chilean individuals we did not find a relation between any CYP2A6 genotype with smoking or tobacco dependence.