title: Alcohol and ADH2 in Israel: Ashkenazis, Sephardics, and recent Russian immigrants.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York 10032, USA. dsh2@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hasin
authors.forename: Efrat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aharonovich
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ziona
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mamman
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matseoane
authors.forename: Lucinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Ting-Kai
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase