Chunk #57 — Explanations for Greater Negative Social Consequences of Alcohol Use among African Americans Compared to European Americans — Vulnerability to Alcohol Effects
It is also possible that African Americans’ increased risk for mortality from liver cirrhosis (Greenfield, 2001; Stinson et al., 1993; Yoon et al., 2001) may involve the ADH1B*3 allele. Ehlers and colleagues (2007) found that in their sample of Afro-Trinidadian participants the ADH1B*3 allele served as a protective factor against alcoholism; however, among those individuals who did become alcohol dependent, the allele was associated with an enhanced risk for liver disease. This is speculated to be due to increased activity of the liver to process alcohol, which is metabolized at a faster rate among individuals with the ADH1B*3 allele (Ehlers et al., 2007).
