To assess whether the GCKR, and KLB SNPs recently reported by Schumann et al.,29 contribute to alcohol consumption independently from our most strongly associated SNPs in our trans-ethnic meta-analysis, we adjusted for the effect of our top SNPs (rs4665985, and rs7686419) in our non-Hispanic white sample. In addition, to assess whether previously reported SNPs in the CCDC63, MYL2, C12orf51, and OAS3 genes in the chromosome 12q24 region, that also reached genome-wide significance in our sample, contribute independently from the ALDH2 locus to alcohol consumption in East Asians, we reran association analysis by including rs671 (our top SNP) as a covariate in the regression model.
