ASSOCIATION BETWEEN A DELTA-OPIOID RECEPTOR GENE POLYMORPHISM AND HEROIN DEPENDENCE IN MAN

Two allelic variants of the delta opioid receptor gene, distinguished by a single base exchange T to C in codon 307 of the translated region , were detected in humans. The amino acid sequence was thereby not cha nged. The resulting C and T alleles combined to give the three genotyp es CC, CT and TT. Allele C was more frequent in a sample of 103 German Caucasian heroin addicts (53.4%) than in a control group (39.1%, n=11 5). The proportion of CC homozygotes was much greater among the drug-d ependent subjects (26.2%) than in controls (9.6%). Although the reason s for this association remain to be explained, our results argue for a participation of the delta type of opioid receptors in the pathophysi ology of heroin dependence.