DOPAMINE-D4 RECEPTOR EXON-III ALLELES AND VARIATION OF NOVELTY SEEKING IN ALCOHOLICS

A dysfunction of dopaminergic neurotansmission has been implicated in alcohol-seeking behavior. Recently, a significant association between the seven-repeat allele (DRD47R) of a 16 amino acid motif in the thir d exon of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) and the personality tra it of novelty seeking has been reported, Our population-based associat ion study tested the hypothesis that the DRD47R variant predisposes t o high levels of novelty seeking, which may underlie alcohol-seeking b ehavior, The genotypes of the expressed DRD4 exon III polymorphism wer e determined in 197 German controls and 252 German alcohol-dependent m ales, of whom 92 alcoholics completed the tridimensional personality q uestionnaire, We found no significant differences in the DRD47R frequ encies between controls and alcoholics, including two subgroups (56 al coholics with dissocial personality disorder according to ICD-10 and 8 9 alcoholics with severe withdrawal symptoms) with a high level of nov elty seeking. The novelty-seeking scores did not differ significantly between alcoholics (including both subgroups) carrying long alleles wi th six or more repeats compared with those lacking long alleles, The p resent results do not provide evidence that the DRD47R allele contrib utes a common and relevant effect to alcohol-seeking behavior in our s ample of alcoholics. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.