title: Evidence for the importance of the human dopamine transporter gene for withdrawal symptomatology of alcoholics in a German population.
abstract: Two new polymorphisms in the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene, adjacent to the known variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism, have been investigated in the present population-based association study including 351 alcoholics and 336 controls. The DraI restriction site was not polymorphic in our population. The G2319A polymorphism was not significantly different with respect to genotype or allele distribution between alcoholics and controls. Subsequently, in individuals with VNTR homozygosity for the ten repeat allele, we found a higher prevalence of A/A homozygosity in patients with seizure history (P = 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 7.913), with delirium history (P = 0.032, OR = 4.707), and with an alcoholic mother (P = 0.021, OR = 5.250), compared to homozygote 10/10 controls. Our findings provide further evidence that the 3'UTR of the DAT1 gene affects vulnerability to severe alcohol withdrawal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Benjamin Franklin Medical School, Free University of Berlin, Ulmenallee 32, D-14050 Berlin, Germany. catrin.wernicke@medzin.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Catrin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wernicke
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smolka
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gallinat
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Winterer
authors.forename: Lutz G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rommelspacher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human