Early life stress has been shown to influences the expression of GABRA2 in rats by permanently altering GABAA α2 subunit distribution in the hippocampus (25). Moreover, early life stress has been shown to affect ethanol consumption in adult rhesus monkeys and alcohol, cocaine and morphine consumption in rodents (26–28). Numerous studies in humans have provided support for a relationship between childhood trauma and the development of alcohol and drug dependence (29–36). For example, Widom et al (37) showed in a prospective cohort community study that middle aged men and women who had been abused in childhood were at greater risk not only for illicit drug use but also polysubstance abuse. Taken together, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that early life stress might interact with GABRA2 variation to predict alcohol and drug dependence in humans.
