In African Americans, the associations between CHRNA5-A3-B4 gene variants and smoking behaviors are not as well understood. While some studies reported positive associations between rs16969968 and smoking behaviors in African American smokers (11), other studies were not able to replicate this finding (21, 22). The low allele frequency of rs16969968 (0% to 8% in African Americans compared to 38% to 40% in Caucasians) could contribute to this discrepancy. However, a very large genome-wide meta-analysis in African American smokers (N=32,389) identified a significant association between rs2036527 within CHRNA5-A3-B4 and self-reported cigarettes per day (CPD) but no significant associations between rs16969968 or rs1051730 and CPD (21). We are not aware of any studies that have investigated the association between CHRNA5-A3-B4 gene variants and smoking cessation in African American smokers.
