Ethnic differences in propofol and fentanyl response: a comparison among Caucasians, Kenyan Africans and Brazilians.

Background And Objective: Differences in sensitivity to anaesthetic drugs may exist among human races. Allelic variants for drug metabolizing isoenzymes and other pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic differences may account for a variable response to anaesthetic drugs. This study was designed to investigate comparatively the anaesthetic requirements and the recovery trends of three different ethnic groups: Caucasians, African blacks and Brazilians.