The Association of DRD2–141C and ANKK1 TaqIA Polymorphisms with Alcohol Dependence in Korean Population Classified by the Lesch Typology.

Aims: Dopamine receptors are associated with reward aod dependence towards alcohol. The polymorphisms of dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) genes have bees reported to be involved in sascepribiliry to alcoholism. Therefore, we investigated the as- sociation of three single-nscleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is DRD2 and ankyris repeat and kisase domain eostaisisg one (ANKKI) genes with alcohol dependence in Korean sabjects, who were classified by the criteria of the Lesch typology. Methods: The DRD2 -141C (Insertion (Ins)/Deletion (Del)), exoa8 (A/G) and the ANKKI TaqIA (A1/A2) polymorphisms were genotyped in a case-control sample consisting of 245 alcohol-dependent (AD) patients and 110 healthy controls. AD patients were classified into four subtypes by the Lesch typology. The majority of them (77.1%) were Lesch type I. Differences in genotype and allele frequencies were examined between the AD patients and the controls. Also those analyses were done between the Lench type I grasp and the controls. Reaults: There were significant differences in the genotype and allele frequencies of -141 C Ins/Del and TaqIA A 1/A2 between the AD patients and the controls. However, there were no significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies of exon8 A/G between the AD patients and the controls. The -141C Ins/Ins and TaqIA Al+ variants were associated with Lesch type I AD patients. When analysing haplotypes of three SNPs, the odds ratio of -141C Inn-A-Al was 2.286, while the odds ratio of -141C Del-G-A2 was 0.323. Conclusion: The present study showed a significant difference in DRD2 -141C and ANKKI TaqIA poly- morphisms between the AD patients and the controls. Oar findings suggest that -141C Ins and TaqIA A1 alleles can be a predisposing factor for alcohol dependence in the Korean population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]