Alcoholism and Drug Addictions

Carol A Prescott, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Published online: July 2006

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0005230

Evidence from family, twin and adoption studies indicates that genetic variation contributes to individual differences in risk for addiction to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, and may contribute to comorbidity of addictions with other psychiatric disorders. Molecular genetic studies with animals and humans are helping to identify specific genes involved in drug-seeking behavior, which may improve understanding of the etiology of addictions and lead to new pharmacological treatments.

Keywords: genetic epidemiology; drug abuse; twin studies; adoption studies; alcoholism; addiction

 Further Reading
    Begleiter H and Porjesz B (1999) What is inherited in the predisposition toward alcoholism? A proposed model. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 23: 1125–1135.
    Cadoret RJ, O'Gorman TW, Troughton E and Heywood E (1985) Alcoholism and antisocial personality: interrelationships, genetic and environmental factors. Archives of General Psychiatry 42: 161–167.
    book Cloninger CR, Bohman M, Sigvardsson S and von Knorring AL (1985) "Psychopathology in adopted-out children of alcoholics: the Stockholm adoption study". In: Galanter M (ed.) Recent Developments in Alcoholism, vol. 3, pp. 37–51. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
    Heath AC, Cates R, Martin NG, et al. (1993) Genetic contribution to risk of smoking initiation: comparisons across birth cohorts and across cultures. Journal of Substance Abuse 5: 221–246.
    Kendler KS, Neale MC, Sullivan P, et al. (1999) A population-based twin study in women of smoking initiation and nicotine dependence. Psychological Medicine 29: 299–308.
    book McGue M (1994) "Genes, environment and the etiology of alcoholism". In: Zucker R, Boyd G and Howard J (eds.) The Development of Alcohol Problems: Exploring the Biopsychosocial Matrix of Risk, pp. 1–40. Washington, DC: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
    Merikangas KR, Stolar M, Stevens DE, et al. (1998) Familial transmission of substance use disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 55: 973–979.
    book Prescott C (2001) "Genetic epidemiology of alcoholism: sex differences and future directions". In: Agarwal D and Seitz H (eds.) Alcohol in Health and Disease, pp. 125–149. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker.
    Reich T, Hinrichs A, Culverhouse R and Bierut L (1999) Genetic studies of alcoholism and substance dependence. American Journal of Human Genetics 65: 599–605.
    Tsuang MT, Lyons MJ, Eisen SA, et al. (1998) Genetic influences on DSM-III-R drug abuse and dependence: a study of 3372 twin pairs. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics) 55: 473–477.
 Web Links
    ePath Alcohol dehydrogenase IB (class I), beta polypeptide (ADH1B); Locus ID: 125. LocusLink: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/LocusLink/LocRpt.cgi?l=125
    ePath Alcohol dehydrogenase IB (class I), beta polypeptide (ADH1B); MIM number: 103720. OMIM: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?103720

Related Sub-Topics:

Drugs and the Brain | Molecular Genetics of Common and Complex Disease | Model Organisms and Human Disease | Linkage Analysis | Inter-Individual Variation and Polymorphism | Science and Society - General
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Article Title: Alcoholism and Drug Addictions
 
How to Cite close
Prescott, Carol A(Jul 2006) Alcoholism and Drug Addictions. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0005230]