Human mu-opioid receptor variation and alcohol dependence

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Human mu-opioid receptor variation and alcohol dependence
Creators Name:	Sander, T. and Gscheidel, N. and Wendel, B. and Samochowiec, J. and Smolka, M. and Rommelspacher, H. and Schmidt, L.G. and Hoehe, M.R.
Abstract:	Mu-Opioid receptor-mediated neurotransmission is involved in the reward, tolerance, and withdrawal effects of alcohol. The present association study tested the hypothesis that the common Asn40Asp substitution polymorphism in the N-terminal domain of the human mu-opioid receptor (OPRM) confers vulnerability to subtypes of alcohol dependence. The genotypes of the Asn40Asp substitution polymorphism were assessed in 327 German alcohol-dependent subjects (according to ICD-10) and in 340 control subjects of German descent, using an assay based on allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. To select alcoholics with a presumed high genetic load, three subgroups were delineated, marked by (1) a family history of parental alcoholism (n = 114); (2) the inability to abstain from alcohol before the age of 26 years (n = 73); and (3) a history of alcohol withdrawal seizure or delirium (n = 107). The frequency of the Asp40 allele did not differ significantly between the controls [f(Asp40) = 0.078] and either the entire group of alcoholics [f(Asp40) = 0.107; p = 0.066], or the alcoholics with parental alcoholism [f(Asp40) = 0.114; p = 0.094], or the early-onset alcoholics [f(Asp40) = 0.096; p = 0.471,[ or the alcoholics with severe withdrawal symptoms [f(Asp40) = 0.098; p = 0.350]. Our results do not provide evidence that the common Asn40Asp substitution polymorphism of the OPRM gene contributes a major effect to the pathogenesis of alcohol dependence.
Keywords:	Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium, Alcoholism, Alleles, Gene Frequency, Population Genetics, Genotype, Germany, Genetic Polymorphism, mu Opioid Receptors, Risk Factors
Source:	Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research
ISSN:	0145-6008
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing
Volume:	22
Number:	9
Page Range:	2108-2110
Date:	December 1998
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1998.tb05923.x
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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