Chunk #27 — Candidate Gene Association Studies for Alcohol and Nicotine Dependence — Other Candidate Genes — Genes Specific for Alcohol or Nicotine Dependence

Source

Co-occurring risk factors for alcohol dependence and habitual smoking: update on findings from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism.

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Variants of genes involved in the breakdown (i.e., metabolism) of alcohol are among the most commonly studied genetic risk or protective factors for alcoholism. In the body, alcohol is first converted to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzymes; subsequently, acetaldehyde is converted to acetate by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymes. Genetic studies have repeatedly implicated members of the gene families encoding these enzymes as influencing a person’s risk of becoming alcohol dependent (for recent reviews, see Tyndale 2003; Dick and Bierut 2006; Edenberg et al. 2006).