Common variants at 12q24 are associated with drinking behavior in Han Chinese.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol consumption is heritable, but genetic susceptibility to drinking behavior has not been investigated widely in genome-wide association studies.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to identify susceptibility loci for drinking behavior (drinkers compared with nondrinkers) in Han Chinese.


METHODS
We performed 2 genome-wide association studies including 1420 drinkers and 3590 nondrinkers in discovery, followed by a de novo replication analysis comprising 4896 drinkers and 13,293 nondrinkers. DNA samples of the subjects were collected for genotyping.


RESULTS
The association results of drinking behavior (drinkers or nondrinkers) showed a cluster of single nucleotide polymorphisms at 12q24 in discovery (P < 5 × 10(-8)), with the strongest association for rs11066280 near C12orf51 (P-combined = 3.26 × 10(-215)). Moreover, we observed the association with drinking behavior for a functional variant in ALDH2 at 12q24 (rs671, P-discovery = 5.17 × 10(-35)). We also identified the association between rs11066280 and daily alcohol intake among drinkers (P-combined = 4.01 × 10(-21)).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicate that common variants at 12q24 may contribute to the susceptibility of drinking behavior in Han Chinese.
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Xueli
X
Yang
Xiangfeng
X
Lu
Laiyuan
L
Wang
Shufeng
S
Chen
Jianxin
J
Li
Jie
J
Cao
Jichun
J
Chen
Yongchen
Y
Hao
Ying
Y
Li
Liancheng
L
Zhao
Hongfan
H
Li
Donghua
D
Liu
Ligui
L
Wang
Fanghong
F
Lu
Chong
C
Shen
Lin
L
Yu
Xianping
X
Wu
Qi
Q
Zhao
Xu
X
Ji
Dongshuang
D
Guo
Xiaozhong
X
Peng
Jianfeng
J
Huang
Dongfeng
D
Gu
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics*; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D002881:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056426:Genetic Loci; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000379:methods; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005810:Multigene Family; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors
C096127:ALDH2 protein, human; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial