1. Urinary excretion of 6 beta‐hydroxycortisol, hepatic microsomal cortisol 6 beta‐hydroxylase and the specific content of several forms of cytochrome P450 were measured in 8 to 14 patients before and after treatment with rifampicin (600 mg orally per day for 4 days). 2. Rifampicin treatment produced an average five fold increase in daily excretion of urinary 6 beta‐hydroxycortisol. 3. Cortisol 6 beta‐ hydroxylase activity increased from 15 +/‐ 6 pmol min‐1 mg‐1 in organ donors (considered as 'control subjects') to 87 +/‐ 31 pmol min‐1 mg‐1 in rifampicin treated patients. 4. Among three forms of human P450 (P450IA, IIC and IIIA), (1), (2), measured by Western blots, only P450IIIA was significantly induced by the antibiotic. 5. Only antibodies against P450IIIA selectively inhibited cortisol 6 beta‐ hydroxylase in human liver microsomes. 6. Cortisol 6 beta‐hydroxylase was correlated with P450IIIA specific content. 7. The urinary level of 6 beta‐hydroxycortisol correlated with liver microsomal cortisol 6 beta‐ hydroxylase and P450IIIA specific content. 8. We conclude that P450IIIA is predominantly responsible for cortisol 6 beta‐hydroxylase activity in human liver microsomes and that urinary 6 beta‐hydroxycortisol is a marker of the induction of this cytochrome P450.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that is associated with an inherited defect of the nucleotide excision repair pathway (NER). In this study, we investigated the involvement of XP genes in 86 XP patients belonging to 66 unrelated families, most of them consanguineous and originating from Maghreb. Sequencing analysis was performed either directly (44 probands) or after having previously characterized the involved XP gene by complementation assay (22 families). XPC and XPA mutations were respectively present in 56/66 and 8/66 probands. Strikingly, we identified the same homozygous frameshift mutation c.1643_1644delTG (p.Val548AlafsX25) in 87% of XP-C patients. Haplotype analysis showed a common founder effect for this mutation in the Mediterranean region, with an estimated age of 50 generations or 1,250 years. Among 7/8 XP-A patients, we found the previously reported nonsense homozygous XPA mutation (p.Arg228X). Six mutations--to our knowledge previously unreported--(five in XPC, one in XPA) were also identified. In conclusion, XPC appears to be the major disease-causing gene concerning xeroderma pigmentosum in North Africa. As the (p.Val548AlafsX25) XPC mutation is responsible for a huge proportion of XP cases, our data imply an obvious simplification of XP molecular diagnosis, at least in North Africa.