although the underlying biological mechanism was not yet established. Strong evidence of association was also detected in the combined Asian and European populations (P = 3×10−8 and 2×10−7 for the allelic analysis and dominant model, respectively). The Mexican samples revealed evidence of significant association with P value of 0.001 (OR = 1.52 (1.18, 1.97)) under the dominant model. No evidence of significant association was found in the European populations. When the alcoholic subjects with alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis, or pancreatitis (designated as “alcohol-related diseases” in Table 1) were combined for the analysis, strong evidence of association was found in the Asian populations. The P values were 0.0002 (OR = 2.12 (1.42, 3.17)) and 0.0006 for the allelic analysis and dominant model, respectively.
