title: Association between a delta opioid receptor gene polymorphism and heroin dependence in man.
abstract: 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 changed. The resulting C and T alleles combined to give the three genotypes 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 = 115). The proportion of CC homozygotes was much greater among the drug-dependent subjects (26.2%) than in controls (9.6%). Although the reasons for this association remain to be explained, our results argue for a participation of the delta type of opioid receptors in the pathophysiology of heroin dependence.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rochlitz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rommelspacher
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Hasse
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Höllt
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D003062:Codon; D003562:Cytidine; D017931:DNA Primers; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006580:Genetic Carrier Screening; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D005858:Germany; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000235:genetics*; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017465:Receptors, Opioid, delta / Q000235:genetics*; D012016:Reference Values; D013941:Thymine
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D017931:DNA Primers; D017465:Receptors, Opioid, delta; D003562:Cytidine; D013941:Thymine