1. Alcohol Dependence and Serotonin Transporter Functional Polymorphisms 5-HTTLPR and rs25531 in an Italian Population.
- Author
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Pascale, Esterina, Ferraguti, Giampiero, Codazzo, Claudia, Passarelli, Francesca, Mancinelli, Rosanna, Bonvicini, Cristian, Bruno, Sabina Maria, Lucarelli, Marco, and Ceccanti, Mauro
- Subjects
AGE factors in disease ,ALCOHOLISM ,PEOPLE with alcoholism ,ALLELES ,ANALYSIS of variance ,BLOOD donors ,CHI-squared test ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,GENES ,GENETIC polymorphisms ,POLYMERASE chain reaction ,PROBABILITY theory ,RESEARCH funding ,SEX distribution ,STATISTICS ,CASE-control method ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ODDS ratio ,GENETICS - Abstract
Aims: The role of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) in alcohol dependence (AD) is still unclear. In this paper, we have evaluated the association of the SLC6A4 gene polymorphisms 5-HTTLPR and rs25531 in AD and assessed the polymorphic patterns both in alcoholics and in healthy people of an Italian population. Methods: Genotyping of the 5-HTTLPR (L/S) and rs25531 (A/G) polymorphisms of the SLC6A4 gene was performed on 403 alcoholics outpatients and 427 blood donors. Results: Comparing AD and control populations and taking into account statistical correction for multiple testing,we found no statistically significant differences for 5-HTTLPR (L/S) and rs25531 polymorphisms in terms of either genotypes or alleles frequencies. By univariate ANOVA, a statistically significant difference was found in the onset of AD: the mean age of onset resulted to be of 25.4 years in males in respect to 28.1 in females. In particular in males, the early AD onset was different, in a statistically significant manner, depending on the presence of at least one S or L
g allele (24.6 years) in respect to La homozygotes (27.5 years) (P = 0.03). Conclusions: These findings suggest that genetic factors contribute, together with gender and age, to the onset differences in alcohol-dependent phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2015
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