The research also indicated that genetic variants (i.e., mutations) that affect AUD risk operate in complex ways that do not fit into either dominant or recessive models of inheritance. Rather, like diabetes and hypertension, AUD can be considered a complex genetically influenced condition to which numerous genes contribute. In other words, AUD reflects the impact of multiple characteristics that do not by themselves cause the problems with alcohol but contribute to overall risk. Subsequently, research identified several genetically influenced characteristics, or intermediate phenotypes, through which genes impacting AUD risk operate.
