Any coincidence of the slow acetylator phenotype and alcoholism will be investigated in this study. The proportion of alcoholic subjects that exhibits the slow acetylator phenotype is to be compared with the proportion of normal volunteers that exhibits the slow acetylator phenotype. The acetylator phenotype will be measured in normal volunteers and recovered alcoholics who are not related to each other. The recovered alcoholics should have a history of alcoholism, and the normal volunteers should be nonalcoholic and have no first-degree relative who is alcoholic. The acetylator phenotype will be determined after a single dose of sulfamethazine by measurement of blood and urine concentrations of sulfamethazine and its acetylated metabolite. These will be measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The acetylator phenotype has been determined in 15 alcoholics and 10 unrelated normal volunteers. The number of subjects is insufficient to draw any conclusions regarding the relative distribution of the slow acetylator phenotype.
