Alcohol and ADH2 in Israel: Ashkenazis, Sephardics, and recent Russian immigrants.
OBJECTIVE
Jews drink less than other Caucasians and have a higher prevalence of ADH2*2, an allele of an alcohol dehydrogenase gene that protects against heavy drinking. The relationship of ADH2 polymorphisms to lifetime maximum number of drinks per occasion was investigated in recent Russian immigrants to Israel (exposed to heavier drinking in their country of origin), other Israeli Ashkenazis, and Sephardics.


METHODS
Seventy-five randomly sampled Israelis participated in a structured interview. ADH2 was genotyped for 68 subjects.


RESULTS
ADH2*2 predicted less drinking; however, associations between ADH2 and drinking appeared to differ across the groups, consistent with differences in environmental exposure to heavy drinking.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support a protective effect for ADH2*2 against heavy drinking in Jewish samples but also suggest the importance of environment. Future work should investigate interactions between genes and the environment in larger samples.
Hasin
Deborah
D
Division of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York 10032, USA. dsh2@columbia.edu
Aharonovich
Efrat
E
Liu
Xinhua
X
Mamman
Ziona
Z
Matseoane
Karen
K
Carr
Lucinda
L
Li
Ting-Kai
TK
D000328:Adult; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000208:ethnology; D007585:Jews / Q000235:genetics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012931:Social Environment; D014586:USSR / Q000208:ethnology
D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase