Association of a Genetic Polymorphism of the Alcohol-Metabolizing Enzyme

Objective: Alcohol dependence causes serious problems which may be influenced by genetic factors associated with alcohol metabolism. The aim was to investigate the allelic and genotypic difference in distribution of a polymorphism in alcohol dehydrogenase 1C gene (ADH1C) between alcohol-dependent individuals and controls, and to examine if these genotypes were associated with the age at which the patient became alcohol-dependent. Methods: We conducted a case-control study including 90 alcohol-dependent cases and 100 historic controls. The genomic DNA was isolated and the alleles were analyzed with an RFLP. Results: The ADH1C*1 allele frequencies were 0.89 (95% CI 0.84-0.91) in controls and 0.68 (95% CI 0.61-0.74) in alcohol-dependent patients. The frequencies of the ADH1C*2 allele were 0.11 (95% CI 0.07-0.14) and 0.32 (95% CI 0.25-0.38) among controls and alcohol-dependent patients, respectively (p < 0.0001). The ADH1C*1/*1 genotype frequency was significantly higher in the control group (77%) compared to that of the alcohol-dependents (51%, p < 0.0001). The ADH1C*1/*2 genotype frequency was significantly lower in the control group (23%) compared to that of the alcohol-dependents (42%, p < 0.0001). We obtained no statistically significant difference among the ADH1C genotype groups regarding age. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a significantly higher presence of ADH1C*2 allele is associated with alcohol dependence in a Turkish population. Studies with other related polymorphisms are needed to more precisely estimate the association of alcohol dependence with ADH1C. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel