1. DBH*444G/A polymorphism of the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase gene is associated with alcoholism but not with severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
- Author
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Köhnke MD, Kolb W, Köhnke AM, Lutz U, Schick S, and Batra A
- Subjects
- Adult, Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium enzymology, Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium genetics, Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium physiopathology, Alcohol-Induced Disorders, Nervous System enzymology, Alcohol-Induced Disorders, Nervous System physiopathology, Alcoholism enzymology, Alcoholism physiopathology, Brain drug effects, Brain enzymology, Brain physiopathology, Catecholamines biosynthesis, Central Nervous System Depressants adverse effects, DNA Mutational Analysis, Ethanol adverse effects, Female, Gene Frequency genetics, Genetic Testing, Genotype, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Substance Withdrawal Syndrome enzymology, Substance Withdrawal Syndrome physiopathology, Alcohol-Induced Disorders, Nervous System genetics, Alcoholism genetics, Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase genetics, Genetic Predisposition to Disease genetics, Polymorphism, Genetic genetics, Substance Withdrawal Syndrome genetics
- Abstract
As the enzyme dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DbetaH) converts dopamine to norepinephrine and both transmitters seem to be involved in the pathology of alcoholism and severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, the gene encoding DbetaH (DBH) was applied to explore the genetic background of alcoholism and severe withdrawal symptoms. 102 healthy control subjects and 208 alcoholics, including 97 patients with a history of mild withdrawal symptoms, 57 with a history of alcohol withdrawal seizure (AWS) and 82 with a history of delirium tremens (DT) were genotyped for the DBH*444G/A polymorphism revealing a significantly elevated frequency of genotypes carrying the A-allele (p = 0.02; after Bonferroni adjustment for multiple tests) in alcoholics compared to healthy controls. Frequencies of alleles and genotypes of individuals with mild withdrawal symptoms did not differ significantly from those of patients with DT or AWS.
- Published
- 2006
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