A semiquantitative whole genome screen analysis of alcohol dependence

Two whole genome screens were applied to sibling pairs from the Collaborati ve Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) family data to compare a semi quantitative method with a standard qualitative approach. The semiquantitat ive method used a score derived from 11 symptoms, and the qualitative appro ach used the COGA criteria for alcohol dependence. There was no concordance in the regions identified by the two models. Three regions of nominal sign ificance were identified using the symptom score. In these three regions, c orrelated traits were also analyzed to determine whether linkage could be a ttributed to their intermediate effect. The evidence for linkage to one loc us on chromosome 6 could be explained by linkage to the personality trait h arm avoidance. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.