Will we ever find the genes for addiction?
- Authors
- Buckland, Paul R
- Year
- 2008
- Journal
- Addiction (Abingdon, England)
- PMID
- 18705689
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02285.x
AIM: To assess the likelihood of finding genes which predispose to addiction and to present this information in a form accessible to the general readership of Addiction. METHODS: Review of the evidence that genetic factors play a significant role in the process of addiction and the proximity of the identification of these factors. RESULTS: The search for the genetic susceptibility variants for many complex illnesses has been ongoing for decades, with increased pace in the last 20 years. However, until very recently only a small number of such variants have been found. Recent studies have used several thousand samples in genome-wide association studies and the latest genotyping technology and have reported a growing number of successes, but have highlighted the need for even larger samples and new statistical methods or new experimental approaches to identify fully the genes involved in the disease process. The phenotype for addiction to drugs is not well defined, and the heritability of addiction to drugs of abuse is far from clear and may be small compared to that of many other complex disorders. The absolute requirement for the administration of drugs before addiction can occur, and other environmental factors known to have a major effect, makes the selection of both probands and controls challenging for genetic studies. Many candidate genes put forward so far as susceptibility genes may be unrelated to the underlying process referred to as addiction but, rather, are related to the propensity to take drugs in the first place. CONCLUSIONS: It is the underlying biological process which changes to an alternative state following addiction, which is the target of investigation, and it is not clear that even genome-wide association studies with sample sizes a magnitude greater than those reported so far would identify the genes involved which have the largest effect. Ultimately, modern neurobiological approaches may identify this process and the genes involved, and even at this stage identifying the susceptibility variants will require both biological as well as genetic analysis.
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External
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| "General Addiction Liability" Revisited. | Watts AL et al. | — | 2025 | → |
| An approach for prioritizing candidate genes from RNA-seq using preclinical cocaine self-administration datasets as a test case. | Vannan A et al. | — | 2023 | → |
| The Effect of Methylphenidate on Reed Scaling in Benzodiazepine Poisoning: A Prospective Trial. | Latifi-Pour M et al. | — | 2020 | → |
| Contribution of Genetic Polymorphisms and Haplotypes in DRD2, BDNF, and Opioid Receptors to Heroin Dependence and Endophenotypes Among the Han Chinese. | Gao X et al. | — | 2017 | → |
| Environmental risks outweigh dopaminergic genetic risks for alcohol use and abuse from adolescence through early adulthood. | Coley RL et al. | — | 2017 | → |
| Genetic markers of a Munc13 protein family member, BAIAP3, are gender specifically associated with anxiety and benzodiazepine abuse in mice and humans. | Wojcik SM et al. | — | 2013 | → |
| Genetic variability in the NMDA-dependent AMPA trafficking cascade is associated with alcohol dependence. | Karpyak VM et al. | — | 2012 | → |
| Influence of brain-derived neurotrophic factor genetic polymorphisms on the ages of onset for heroin dependence in a Chinese population. | Meng C et al. | — | 2012 | → |
| The aggregate effect of dopamine genes on dependence symptoms among cocaine users: cross-validation of a candidate system scoring approach. | Derringer J et al. | — | 2012 | → |
| GABRA2 and alcohol use disorders: no evidence of an association in an Italian case-control study. | Onori N et al. | — | 2010 | → |
| Motivation on the Mediterranean: reward, compulsions and habit formation. | John CE et al. | — | 2010 | → |
| Gene-environment interactions and alcohol use and dependence: current status and future challenges. | van der Zwaluw CS et al. | — | 2009 | → |
| Obesity and its relationship to addictions: is overeating a form of addictive behavior? | Barry D et al. | — | 2009 | → |
| Polymorphisms in the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3/DAT1) and alcohol dependence in humans: a systematic review. | van der Zwaluw CS et al. | — | 2009 | → |