Chunk #21 — 3. Pharmacogenetic Studies of Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder in Individuals of Diverse Ancestries — 3.2 Individuals of East Asian Ancestry
relative to placebo or A allele (Asn40) homozygotes (n=13; p < 0.05). Thus, NTX appears to be most effective in Asp40 carriers, individuals who experience greater hedonic and stimulating subjective effects from alcohol administration.21, 22 The findings above indicate that individuals of East Asian ancestry who carry the G allele may benefit from NTX treatment compared to Asn40 homozygotes, through a reduction of reward-related craving response, which could in turn lead to a better clinical response. A behavioral economics study of pharmacogenetic response to NTX, using the same sample of participants as the study above, implemented an Alcohol Purchase Task to understand the relative value of alcohol in heavy drinking individuals of East Asian ancestry.47 Findings suggest that relative to placebo, NTX-treated AA homozygotes had a lower intensity of demand for alcohol when consumption cost was zero (p = 0.07). Unexpectedly, however, this effect was not present in G allele carriers treated with NTX. In order to control for potential confounders, the ALDH2 and ADH1B alcohol metabolizing genes were examined as covariates in this study, but neither of these genes had any relationship with the behavioral economic measures. Thus, while in the IV alcohol administration study, NTX was effective at
