ALCOHOL AND ALDEHYDE DEHYDROGENASE POLYMORPHISMS AND ALCOHOLISM

The alcohol-flush reaction occurs in Asians who inherit the mutant ALD H22 allele that produces an inactive aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme. I n these individuals, high blood acetaldehyde levels are believed to be the cause of the unpleasant symptoms that follow drinking. We measure d the alcohol elimination rates and intensity of flushing in Chinese s ubjects in whom the alcohol dehydrogenase ADH2 and ALDH2 genotypes wer e determined. We also correlated ADH2, ADH3, and ALDH2 genotypes with drinking behavior in 100 Chinese men. We discovered that ADH22 and AD H31, alleles that encode the high activity forms of alcohol dehydroge nase, as well as the mutant ALDH22 allele were less frequent in alcoh olics than in controls. The presence of ALDH22 was associated with sl ower alcohol metabolism and the most intense flushing. In those homozy gous for ALDH21, the presence of two ADH2*2 alleles correlated with s lightly faster alcohol metabolism and more intense flushing, although a great deal of variability in the latter was noted.