Chromosome four contains genes that affect drinking behaviors in smokers

  • Alcoholism is a complex behavior that draws from both environmental and genetic factors.
  • Researchers have found in a sample of smokers chromosomal regions that affect patterns of drinking behavior.
  • These findings support results from previous research that link alcohol metabolism genes on chromosomes two and four with alcohol consumption.

Researchers firmly believe that alcoholism is a complex behavior that draws from both environmental and genetic factors. A recent examination of families selected for their smoking behavior has identified the same region of chromosome four that was identified by earlier studies as being linked to the initiation of alcohol consumption. Results are published in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

“It is commonly observed that people that drink also smoke and vice versa,” explained Kirk C. Wilhelmsen, associate professor in the departments of genetics and neurology at the University of North Carolina as well as corresponding author for the study. “This suggested to us that families selected for smoking behavior would also have an increased incidence of drinking behavior.”

“Twin studies of alcohol consumption have a long history and were the first to suggest the importance of genetic factors in alcohol use and alcoholism,” added Gary E. Swan, director of the Center for Health Sciences at SRI International and also an author of the study. “The identification of linkages between specific genomic regions of interest and alcohol use and abuse is an area of science that has been active for about seven years. A consistent finding from these studies is the linkage between a region of chromosome four containing several genes that produce enzymes involved in the metabolism of alcohol and families with a high frequency of alcohol abuse.”

Using data collected in an ongoing interdisciplinary study of environmental and genetic determinants of tobacco use conducted at the Oregon Research Institute under the direction of Dr. Hyman Hops, another author of the study, researchers examined 158 nuclear families that were determined to have at least two first-degree relatives who had smoked 100 or more cigarettes in their lifetime. Genotypes were determined from blood DNA taken from each family participant and analyzed for linkages to selected phenotypes.

“We looked for chromosome regions that had genes that affect patterns of drinking behavior,” said Wilhelmsen. “The locations with the strongest evidence were the same places that were previously found in other linkage studies looking for loci that affect alcoholism, although we found evidence that these loci affect drinking behavior less severely than for alcoholism.” Wilhelmsen is referring to one locus on chromosome two, and two loci on chromosome four.

“These findings are significant because the families in this study were selected by virtue of their use of tobacco rather than for excessive drinking and alcoholism, which have been the selection traits in previous linkage studies,” said Swan. “Furthermore, the consistency of this result across study samples strongly suggests that variations in genes for alcohol metabolism play a role in determining who will go on to regular consumption of alcoholic beverages after initial exposure, and who is at risk for alcoholism.”

“Our work provides evidence that variations in genes in a particular region affect drinking behavior,” said Wilhelmsen, “which will encourage further work to identify the genes that are involved. When these genes are identified, and their normal function deduced, we will have a better understanding of the biology of drinking behavior. This may lead to new therapeutic approaches to treat alcoholism.”

Swan concurs, however, he said that the study is suggestive rather than conclusive. “As with all studies of this sort, the findings need to be confirmed in other, nonclinical samples,” he said. “The reader should also know that many genes are likely to be involved in alcoholism, and that genetic effects most likely interact with the effects of the environment to increase risk for alcohol abuse. The overall genetic signal observed in this study was modest which suggests the presence of other factors, both genetic and environmental in nature.”

Wilhelmsen said that he and his colleagues have already begun to systematically search for DNA sequence changes in the same chromosome regions that affect drinking behavior.

Swan suggested that future research also include certain biological or physiological measures in the assessment of families. “This will help to more directly quantify alcohol metabolism along with specific measures of environmental risk such as stress,” he said. “These measures can then be examined in linkage analyses to test the hypothesis that a metabolic substrate determines alcohol consumption and that environmental factors mediate the effects of genetic factors.”

Media Contact

Kirk C. Wilhelmsen EurekAlert!

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors