Our data provide further support for the importance of interactions between OPRM1 *G and DAT VNTR polymorphisms. Although early studies indicated *G allele carriers had higher subjective ratings of alcohol intoxication, stimulation, and positive mood across rising BAC than AA homozygotes (Ray and Hutchison, 2004, Ray and Hutchison, 2007, Ray et al., 2013), subsequent analyses indicated that effects were limited to *G-carriers who were also DAT1 A10 homozygotes (Ray et al., 2014). An opposite effect was reported by Anton et al (2012); non-treatment seeking alcoholics who were carriers of both OPRM1 AA and DAT1 A9 alleles showed greater alcohol-induced stimulation after consumption of a single priming drink. Although not significant in the current study, carriers of both OPRM1*G and DAT1 A10 had higher stimulation BAES scores as seen in the Ray et al., 2013. Neither the Anton study nor the Ray study found genotype differences in sedative or negative subjective effects as found in the current study. It is notable that the overall sample of our current study (n=127) was three times larger, and the Caucasian sample (n=92) was twice as large as the prior study conducted by Ray and colleagues (n=43).
