Search

Objectives: This study investigated the involvement of ADH4 gene polymorphisms in the susceptibility to alcohol use disorders., Methods: Thirty-eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in and around the ADH4 gene were investigated in 136 Italian alcoholics and 276 healthy controls. A new approach based on a bioinformatic method selected 26 SNPs that may affect the splicing sites, destroying or creating binding sites of splicing regulatory proteins., Results: Case-control comparisons for allele and genotype frequencies showed that ADH4 SNPs were associated with alcohol dependence but not with alcohol abuse. The association signal was strongest for rs1009145, rs13148577 (both P=0.0008) and rs7689753 (P=0.0007), whose minor alleles were predicted to alter the target protein sequences involved in mRNA splicing. A pairwise linkage disequilibrium analysis showed that all SNPs except five were located in a single haplotype block. Six haplotype tag SNPs were selected to infer haplotypes and to estimate their frequency distributions. A logistic regression analysis confirmed the association between ADH4 variants and alcohol dependence when sex, age, years of education, marital status and the allele genotype, haplotype and diplotype data of the six haplotype tag SNP were considered. Haplotype ATAAAT, which contained the minor allele of rs10009145 and the major allele of rs7689753, increased the risk of alcohol dependence, whereas haplotype GGGGAT, bearing the major allele of rs10009145 and the minor allele of rs7689753, protected against it. Again, there was no evidence of an association with alcohol abuse., Conclusion: These data suggest that ADH4 intronic variants play a role in alcohol dependence susceptibility in Italian populations. Functional studies are needed to establish the role of the genetic variations that seem to affect the splicing mechanism.

Atmospheric pollution from vehicular traffic is a matter of growing interest, often leading to temporary restrictions in urban areas. Although guidelines indicate limits for several parameters, the real toxicologic impacts remain largely unexplored in field conditions. In this study our aim was to validate an ecotoxicologic approach to evaluate both bioaccumulation and toxicologic effects caused by airborne pollutants. Specimens of the land snail Helix aspersa were caged in five sites in the urban area of Ancona, Italy. After 4 weeks, trace metals (cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead, and zinc) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured and these data integrated with the analyses of molecular and biochemical responses. Such biomarkers reflected the induction of detoxification pathways or the onset of cellular toxicity caused by pollutants. Biomarkers that correlated with contaminant accumulation included levels of metallothioneins, activity of biotransformation enzymes (ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase, ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase), and peroxisomal proliferation. More general responses were investigated as oxidative stress variations, including efficiency of antioxidant defenses (catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferases, glutathione peroxidases, and total glutathione) and total oxyradical scavenging capacity toward peroxyl and hydroxyl radicals, onset of cellular damages (i.e., lysosomal destabilization), and loss of DNA integrity. Results revealed a marked accumulation of metals and PAHs in digestive tissues of organisms maintained in more traffic-congested sites. The contemporary appearance of several alterations confirmed the cellular reactivity of these chemicals with toxicologic effects of potential concern for human health. The overall results of this exploratory study suggest the utility of H. aspersa as a sentinel organism for biomonitoring the biologic impact of atmospheric pollution in urban areas. Key words: atmospheric pollutants, bioindicators, biomarkers, DNA integrity, lysosomes, metallothioneins, oxidative stress, peroxisomes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, trace metals.