title: Association analysis of the dopamine D4 gene exon III VNTR and heroin abuse in Chinese subjects.
abstract: Although social and cultural influences are clearly important, family, twin and adoption studies indicate that genes contribute significantly to substance abuse. Substance abuse is associated with novelty seeking, a heritable human personality trait which may be influenced by alleles of the dopamine D4 (DRD4) gene exon III VNTR. Consequently Kotler et al analysed the DRD4 VNTR in opiate-dependent subjects from Israel, and found a significant excess of the 7-repeat allele. We have attempted to replicate this finding using a Han Chinese case-control sample of 121 heroin-dependent subjects and 154 normal controls. We found two 7-repeat alleles which occurred exclusively in the patient group, and overall there was an excess of longer alleles, which did not reach significance (chi 2 = 7.04; P = 0.07). When the D4 VNTR was divided into 'long' (5-7 repeats) and 'short' (2-4 repeats), a significant excess of long alleles was observed in the patient group (P = 0.023, one-tailed), with an odds ratio of 2.30 (95% CI 1.07-4.93). We conclude that our findings support the hypothesis that alleles of the DRD4 exon III VNTR are susceptibility factors for heroin abuse.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Sham
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Collier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D003932:Heroin / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics*; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4
chemical_list: C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4; D003932:Heroin