GENOME-WIDE SEARCH FOR GENES AFFECTING THE RISK FOR ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

Alcohol dependence is a leading cause of morbidity and premature death . Several lines of evidence suggest a substantial genetic component to the risk for alcoholism: sibs of alcoholic probands have a 3-8 fold i ncreased risk of also developing alcoholism, and twin heritability est imates of 50-60% are reported by contemporary studies of twins. We rep ort on the results of a six-center collaborative study to identify sus ceptibility loci for alcohol dependence. A genome-wide screen examined 291 markers in 987 individuals from 105 families. Two-point and multi point nonparametric linkage analyses were performed to detect suscepti bility loci for alcohol dependence. Multipoint methods provided the st rongest suggestions of linkage with susceptibility loci for alcohol de pendence on chromosomes 1 and 7, and more modest evidence for a locus on chromosome 2, In addition, there was suggestive evidence for a prot ective locus on chromosome 4 near the alcohol dehydrogenase genes, for which protective effects have been reported in Asian populations. (C) 1998 WileS-Liss, Inc.