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Association between dopamine receptor D3 gene BalI polymorphism and cognitive impulsiveness in alcohol-dependent men.

Limosin F, Romo L, Batel P, Adès J, Boni C, Gorwood P

Service de Psychiatrie Adulte, Faculty of medicine Bichat-Claude Bernard, Louis Mourier hospital (AP-HP), 178, rue des Renouillers, 92701 Colombes cedex, France.

The gene coding for the dopamine receptor D3 (DRD3) is considered as a major candidate gene in various addictive disorders. Association studies in alcohol-dependence for this gene are nevertheless controversial. We made the hypothesis that phenotypical heterogeneity of alcohol-dependence (i.e. the DRD3 gene is a vulnerability gene in a specific subgroup of patients only) could explain these spurious findings, focusing on a core dimension of addictive disorders, namely impulsiveness. In our sample of 108 French alcohol-dependent patients, patients above the median value for cognitive impulsiveness (one of the three dimensions of the Barratt scale) were more frequently heterozygous than both alcohol-dependent patients with lower impulsiveness (OR = 2.51, P = 0.019) and than 71 healthy controls (OR = 2.32, P = 0.025). Age at interview, antisocial personality disorder, other comorbid addictive disorder, age at onset of alcohol-dependence, and lifetime mood disorders did not constitute confusing intermediate factors.

Published 6 June 2005 in Eur Psychiatry, 20(3): 304-6.
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