engleski

Alcoholism and polymorphisms of serotonin-related genes: association studies

Introduction. Alcohol dependence is a heterogenous syndrome caused by complex interaction of genes and environment. Disturbances of serotonin (5HT) system are implicated in ethiopathology of alcoholism and variations in 5HT-related genes are thought to contribute to the alteration in serotonergic neurotransmission. Moreover, serotonin deficit is associated with high impulsivity and antisocial personality traits, which are characteristics of early onset and more severe subtype of alcoholism (type 2). In this preliminary study, we tested polymorphisms of genes involved in serotonin transport and turnover (synthesizing and degrading enzymes) for their association with alcohol dependence. Material & Methods. Frequency distributions of genotypes and alleles were determined for polymorphisms in genes coding 5HT-related proteins: 5HT transporter (5HTT-VNTR2, 5HTTLPR), monoamineoxidase A (MAOA-uVNTR) and B (MAOB-A/G), and tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1-A218C) and 2 (TPH2 G-703T). Our sample included 59 males with type 2 alcoholism and total of 282 ethnically and gender matched health individuals. Results and conclusion. The frequencies of 10-repeat allele and 10/10 genotype of 5HTT-VNTR2 polymorphism were higher in patient than in control group (p=0, 0102 and 0, 0065, respectively ; OR=1.73 and 2, 57, respectively). No differences between case and control group were observed in the frequency distribution of any other tested polymorphism. Future increase of sample size is expected to enable analyses of more subtle differences, as well as re-evaluation of the preliminary positive findings indicating the role of 5HTT gene in the vulnerability to alcoholism.

alcoholism; serotonin; gene polymorphism

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