CYP3A5 expression is regulated by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The CYP3A5 genotype might contribute to a marked interindividual variation in CYP3A-mediated metabolism of drugs. Nifedipine is a typical substrate of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 in vitro. The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of the CYP3A5 genotype on nifedipine disposition in healthy subjects. A single capsule containing 10 mg of nifedipine was administered to 16 healthy male Japanese subjects (eight subjects: CYP3A5*1/*3; eight subjects: CYP3A5*3/*3). Blood samples were collected to analyze the pharmacokinetics of serum nifedipine and nitropyridine metabolite (M-I). The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), the peak plasma concentration (C max ) and the terminal half-life (t 1/2 ) of nifedipine, and the ratio of the nifedipine AUC to M-I AUC showed large intragroup variations, but no significant differences between the two genotypes. Based on the present findings, the functional relevance of CYP3A5 polymorphism should be re-evaluated in clinical trials. 2 Recently, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in intron 3 (A-G: CYP3A5*3) and exon 7 (G-A: CYP3A5*6) of the CYP3A5 gene.3 In addition, CYP3A5*5 and CYP3A5*7 were reported as a defective allele of CYP3A5, which gave a substantial impact on CYP3A5 expression. 4,5 These SNPs cause a frame-shift mutation or alternative splicing and protein truncation, and result in the absence of CYP3A5, suggesting that only people with at least one CYP3A5*1 allele express large amounts of CYP3A5 protein. Therefore, these findings suggest that polymorphic CYP3A5 expression might be one factor contributing to the marked interindividual variation observed in CYP3A-mediated metabolism of drugs.We previously reported the frequencies of CYP3A5-related SNPs in 200 healthy Japanese subjects. 6 As a result, the allele frequency of CYP3A5*3 was approximately 70%, but CYP3A5*6 was not detected in the Japanese population. Accordingly, these findings suggested that about 40% of Japanese express relatively high levels of metabolically active CYP3A5 protein.