Fine mapping of the ADH region for alcohol metabolism, use and dependence

Funded Activity Summary

It is widely known that alcohol use and alcohol dependence can cause many social problems and morbidity. We know that social and and cultural factors can affect the possibility of becoming alcohol dependent. We also know that inheritance plays a major role in the risk of becoming dependent upon alcohol. Two inherited causes or genes have already been identified as causing some people to avoid alcohol and so have less chance of becoming dependent upon it. Clues as to why this happens come from what happens to alcohol following a drink. The body detoxifies itself of alcohol in the liver. There it is converted to very highly toxic acetaldehyde and this is normally rapidly removed by a protein called aldehyde dehydrogenase. Some people do not have a normally functioning form of this protein and cannot remove the acetaldehyde from their bodies. They suffer unpleasant side effects such as nausea, facial flushing and sickness. Consequently they learn by experience to avoid alcohol use and are less likely to develop dependence. We now know that even people with a normally inherited form of aldehyde dehydrogenase can have a lowered risk of dependence. The rate at which our livers convert alcohol to actetaldehyde is also a key factor. Those who are inherently quick at this process again learn to avoid alcohol, others are more at risk. The hypothesis will be tested with a unique set of twins who have provided us with detailed information on how quickly they detoxify alcohol and of their drinking habits for over 20 years. Collectively they will enable us to determine if there is a major genetic influence on alcohol use and dependence that is caused by inter-individual differences in a gene for alcohol metabolism. The DNA of these twins will be used to locate mutations that we predict have a common effect upon our measures of alcohol detoxification, drinking habits and risk of alcoholism.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $215,690.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Quantitative Genetics

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Alcohol and behaviour | Alcohol dependence | Alcohol drinking habits | Alcohol metabolism, drinking behaviour and dependence | Developmental pleiotropy | Gene mapping | Genetic predisposition | Quantitative Trait Loci | Twin and Sib-pair methods

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