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Identified a key gene that can predispose to alcohol dependence: it's a gene, "ADH1B", that regulates the rate of absorption of alcohol by the body . In alcoholics, there is a version of the gene that actually facilitates the consumption of large amounts of alcohol.
The study was published in Nature Neuroscience by the "Substance Use Substances" working group of the "Psychiatric Genomics Consortium" consortium. Directed by Arpana Agrawal of the University of Washington School of Medicine at St.
Louis, the study involved nearly 15,000 alcoholics and nearly 38,000 people without addiction (control group).
Normally, the function of the ADH1B gene is to convert alcohol into a substance, acetaldehyde, which produces unpleasant effects on the body and thereby discourages excessive alcohol consumption. In alcoholics, this process of conversion is slowed, which favors the excessive consumption of alcohol and therefore drunkenness. The drugs used today to manage alcohol addiction specifically affect this process of conversion.
Experts have also discovered other genes related to the risk of alcohol dependence, but those taken individually have no significant effect; Some of these genes are known to be badociated with diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, ADHD and the use of cigarettes and marijuana.
"The risk conferred by ADH1B produces one of the most potent effects as a unique gene ever observed in people with psychiatric illnesses, but overall, it only explains that". a small part of the risk of alcohol addiction, "Agrawal said. Many other genetic variants contribute little to the risk, but to find them, we need to study a larger sample of individuals. "(ANSA).
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