In the current study, we used retrospective self-report measures to assess low-dose and initial sensitivity to alcohol in Asian participants with varying ALDH2 and ADH1B genotypes. We first examined the effects of ALDH2*2 alone, then after testing ALDH2-ADH1B interactions we controlled for ALDH2 to determine whether the intensity of response to alcohol also differed across ADH1B genotypes. It was predicted that ALDH2*2 would be associated with higher rates of alcohol-related symptoms. In addition, it was predicted that if ADH1B polymorphisms were related to a more intense response to alcohol (i.e., alcohol sensitivity), then participants homozygous for ADH1B*2 would report the most alcohol-related symptoms while participants heterozygous for ADH1B*2 would report more alcohol-related symptoms than those without the variant allele. Similar to previous reports (e.g., Chen et al., 1999; Cook et al., 2005; Luczak et al., 2006 Takeshita et al., 1996; 2001; Yokoyama et al., 1999; 2003), we expected the effects of ADH1B on alcohol sensitivity might be stronger in individuals who also possess an ALDH2*2 allele. These findings would support the step of the hypothesized pathway that proposes an association
