title: The joint effects of ADH1B variants and childhood adversity on alcohol related phenotypes in African-American and European-American women and men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ADH1B gene has consistently been implicated in problem drinking, but rarely incorporated into gene by environment investigations of alcohol phenotypes. This study examined the joint effects of variation in ADH1B and childhood adversity-a well-documented risk factor for alcohol problems and moderator of genetic liability to psychiatric outcomes-on maximum drinks consumed in a 24-hour period (maxdrinks) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were drawn from 2,617 African-American (AA) and 1,436 European-American (EA) participants (42% female) in a multisite genetic study of substance dependence. We tested the most significant ADH1B single nucleotide polymorphisms for alcohol dependence from a genomewide association study with this sample, ADH1B-rs1229984 (Arg48His) and ADH1B-rs2066702 (Arg370Cys), in EA and AA subsamples, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ordinal regression analyses conducted separately by sex and population revealed significant main effects for childhood adversity for both alcohol phenotypes in AA women and men and for maxdrinks in EA women. A significant rs1229984 by childhood adversity interaction was observed for AUD symptoms in EA men. Unexposed His-allele carriers reported a mean of 3.6 AUD criteria, but adversity-exposed His-allele carriers endorsed approximately the same number (6.3) as those without the protective allele (6.3 and 7.0 for adversity-exposed and -unexposed groups, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that under conditions of childhood adversity, the His allele does not exert its protective effects in EA men (OR = 0.57, CI: 0.32 to 1.01; p = 0.056). Findings highlight the robust risk effect conferred by childhood adversity and the importance of considering population and sex in genetically informative investigations of its association with alcohol outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry , Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Carolyn E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Sartor
authors.forename: Zuoheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Henry R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kranzler
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gelernter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000208:ethnology; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C489332:ADH1B protein, human; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase
keywords: ADH1B; African Americans; Alcohol; Childhood Adversity