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Re. KC Wilhelmsen, M Schuckit et al (2003): The search for genes related to a low-level response to alcohol determined by alcohol challenges

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 4, pages 3–4 (2004)Cite this article

There is overwhelming evidence for genes to play a substantial role in the development of alcoholism. Of the population variance for alcoholism, 50–60% vulnerability may be explained by genes.1 In addition, patterns of alcohol use seem to be under the genetic influence. Evidence comes from clinical, epidemiological, twin2 and especially adoption studies, among others. The question is: what is inherited? The vulnerability to develop alcoholism may be mediated by variances in alcohol-metabolizing enzymes or alcohol tolerance, variations in neurotransmission, or personality dimensions such as impulsivity or aggression. Many other variables could be mentioned. There is broad consensus that as in other fields of psychiatry genetics, it is most unlikely that a single or a few genes are responsible for most of the variance.

In the recent decade, substantial effort was made to elucidate genetic mechanisms involved in the transmission of the vulnerability risk for alcoholism. One of the most ambitious projects in this field is the US Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA).3,4 In brief, it is an extensive family study with hundreds of affected and unaffected families studied so far. Beside the genome search for markers, COGA is interested in neurophysiological (evoked potentials) and other markers for alcoholism. Substantial effort is made to phenotype patients carefully with respect to family and alcohol history, comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders and personality dimensions. The impact of research instruments development by the COGA group is substantial and many of the diagnostic instruments applied like the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism5 have been translated in other languages and are used as research instruments in the field.6 They are also part of the diagnostic procedure of the recent study by Wilhelmsen et al.7 To date, despite the substantial efforts in this area, the genomic search for vulnerability markers for alcoholism has at least produced conflicting results. There is tremendous effort in studying possible candidate genes for alcoholism but there are no final answers yet.8

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  1. Munich, Germany

    M Soyka

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Soyka, M. Re. KC Wilhelmsen, M Schuckit et al (2003): The search for genes related to a low-level response to alcohol determined by alcohol challenges. Pharmacogenomics J 4, 3–4 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500228

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