The alcohol dehydrogenase ADH1B (rs1229984) gene codes for the primary isoenzyme involved in conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde. In Asians, ADH1B has two allelic forms, the wild type ADH1B*1 (ADH1B*47Arg) and the variant ADH1B*2 (ADH1B*47His). ADH1B*2 is found in nearly 90% of northeast Asian populations and in lower prevalence in Caucasians (about 5-10%, although in higher rates in Eastern European Jews and Russians; Borras et al., 2000; Goedde et al., 1992; Ogurtsov et al., 2001). ADH1B*2 also has consistently been associated with lower rates of alcohol dependence. This relationship is found after controlling for ALDH2*2 in Asian subgroups (Luczak et al., 2006) and in European Caucasian subgroups (Borras et al., 2000; Ogurtsov et al., 2001; Wall et al., 2005; Whitfield, 2002. In a meta-analysis of the effect of ALDH2*2 and ADH1B*2 alleles in combination in Asians (Luczak et al., 2006), ALDH2*1/*1 individuals with one ADH1B*2 allele had about one fourth (OR = 0.26) and those with two ADH1B*2 alleles had about one fifth (OR = 0.20) the risk of alcohol dependence compared with individuals with no ADH1B*2 alleles. In ALDH2*1/*2
