These results are consistent with previous findings implicating genetic variation in the GABRG1 gene with AD (Covault et al., 2008; Edenberg et al., 2004). A very recent study has found significant associations among multiple SNPs and haplotypes of the GABRG1 gene and AD in 2 independent populations: Plain American Indians and Finish Caucasians (Enoch et al., 2009). In the aforementioned study, one of the significant allelic associations was reported for a SNP (rs1497570) which is in complete LD with the SNP for which we found significant effects in this study (rs1497571), as shown in Fig. 1. In short, Enoch and colleagues (2009) found support for GABRG1 haplotype and SNP associations with AD in 2 independent populations and concluded that these are independent genetic contributions from those previously reported for GABRA2 genotypes. Those findings and the ones reported herein suggest that GABRG1 may be an important candidate gene for alcoholism phenotypes, including intermediate phenotypes such as level of response to alcohol and drinking patterns.
