title: Heroin addiction in African Americans: a hypothesis-driven association study.
abstract: Heroin addiction is a chronic complex disease with a substantial genetic contribution. This study was designed to identify gene variants associated with heroin addiction in African Americans. The emphasis was on genes involved in reward modulation, behavioral control, cognitive function, signal transduction and stress response. We have performed a case-control association analysis by screening with 1350 variants of 130 genes. The sample consisted of 202 former severe heroin addicts in methadone treatment and 167 healthy controls with no history of drug abuse. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), haplotype and multi-SNP genotype pattern analyses were performed. Seventeen SNPs showed point-wise significant association with heroin addiction (nominal P< 0.01). These SNPs are from genes encoding several receptors: adrenergic (ADRA1A), arginine vasopressin (AVPR1A), cholinergic (CHRM2), dopamine (DRD1), GABA-A (GABRB3), glutamate (GRIN2A) and serotonin (HTR3A) as well as alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH7), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD1 and GAD2), the nucleoside transporter (SLC29A1) and diazepam-binding inhibitor (DBI). The most significant result of the analyses was obtained for the GRIN2A haplotype G-A-T (rs4587976-rs1071502-rs1366076) with protective effect (P(uncorrected) = 9.6E- 05, P(corrected) = 0.058). This study corroborates several reported associations with alcohol and drug addiction as well as other related disorders and extends the list of variants that may affect the development of heroin addiction. Further studies will be necessary to replicate these associations and to elucidate the roles of these variants in drug addiction vulnerability.
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. levrano@rockefeller.edu
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Levran
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Londono
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Randesi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rotrosen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Casadonte
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Linzy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adelson
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kreek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics*; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004798:Enzymes / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005820:Genetic Testing; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000235:genetics; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter