While our study sought to characterize the genetic roots of alcohol-related alternative mRNA splicing, we cannot dismiss the potential for alcohol-induced differential splicing. We found that many of the differentially spliced genes associated with AUD were also differentially spliced in primate models of chronic binge drinking. Notably, only five of these overlapping genes from analogous brain regions had a sQTL (2.9% of sQTLs). This may suggest that both genetic and alcohol-related mechanisms underlie alternative mRNA splicing in the brain.
