title: Association between the serotonin transporter gene and alcohol consumption in social drinkers.
abstract: Relatively few studies have investigated the role of the 5HTT gene in intermediate phenotypes such as alcohol consumption in non-alcohol dependent populations. A recent study reported an association with alcohol consumption in a student population. We attempted to replicate these findings and extend on this work in a representative, ethnically homogenous, non-alcohol dependent sample of social drinkers in the United Kingdom. The short allele of the 5HTT gene was significantly associated with increased alcohol consumption (P = 0.03). There was suggestive evidence of a genotype-sex interaction (P = 0.04). Post-hoc tests indicated higher alcohol consumption in men with one or more copies of the short allele, while in women consumption was highest among heterozygotes compared to both homozygote groups. Age at time of data collection and cigarette consumption were entered as covariates. These results replicate recent previous findings and suggest a possibility that this association may differ in men and women.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK General Practice Research Group, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. marcus.munafo@clinpharm.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Marcus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Munafò
authors.forename: Anne R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Lingford-Hughes
authors.forename: Elaine C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Johnstone
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Walton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
chemical_list: D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins