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Association of genetic variants in alcohol dehydrogenase 4 with alcohol dependence in Brazilian patients.

Guindalini C, Scivoletto S, Ferreira RG, Breen G, Zilberman M, Peluso MA, Zatz M

Human Genome Research Center, Department of Biology, Institute of Biosciences, University of Sao Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa 13, Number 106, Cidade Universitária CEP:05508-090, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the association of three functional promoter polymorphisms of the ADH4 gene with alcohol dependence. METHOD: DNA from 92 alcohol-dependent patients and 92 healthy comparison subjects was genotyped for all three polymorphisms. RESULTS: Variants at the -75 base-pair (bp) (C allele) and -159 bp (A allele) positions were associated with alcohol dependence. Individuals with haplotypes carrying both risk alleles showed an odds ratio of 2.9. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that ADH4 may play a role in the etiology of alcohol dependence. The association requires further study and replication but is functionally plausible and has a large effect size.

Published 2 May 2005 in Am J Psychiatry, 162(5): 1005-7.
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