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Early‐Life Adversity and Blunted Stress Reactivity as Predictors of Alcohol and Drug use in Persons With COMT (rs4680) Val158Met Genotypes
Author(s) -
Lovallo William R.,
Cohoon Andrew J.,
Sorocco Kristen H.,
Vincent Andrea S.,
Acheson Ashley,
Hodgkinson Colin A.,
Goldman David
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/acer.14079
Subject(s) - rs4680 , catechol o methyl transferase , allele , stressor , psychology , reactivity (psychology) , genotype , drug , clinical psychology , recreational drug use , polymorphism (computer science) , medicine , psychiatry , genetics , gene , biology , alternative medicine , pathology
Background Risk for alcoholism may be enhanced by exposure to early‐life adversity ( ELA ) in persons with genetic vulnerabilities. We examined ELA in the presence of a common variant of the gene for the enzyme catechol‐O‐methyltransferase ( COMT , Val158Met , rs4680) in relation to cortisol reactivity, the onset of early drinking, and experimentation with drugs. Methods Saliva cortisol reactivity to speech and mental arithmetic stress was measured in 480 healthy young adults (23.5 years of age, 50% females) who experienced either 0, 1, or ≥ 2 forms of ELA during childhood and adolescence, provided information on use of alcohol and recreational drugs, and were genotyped for the Val158Met polymorphism. Results ELA led to progressively smaller cortisol responses in the Met/Met and Val/Met allele groups but to progressively larger responses in Val homozygotes, F = 3.29, p = 0.011. ELA independently predicted earlier age at first drink, F = 14.2, p < 0.0001, with a larger effect in Met‐allele carriers, F = 13.95, p < 0.00001, and a smaller effect in Val homozygotes, F = 4.14, p = 0.02. Similar effects were seen in recreational drug use. Cortisol reactivity was unrelated to drinking behavior or drug experimentation. Conclusions ELA leads to blunted stress reactivity and, independently, contributes to potentially risky drinking and drug‐use behaviors in persons carrying 1 or 2 copies of the COMT 158Met allele. The results reinforce the impact of early experience on the stress axis and on risky behaviors, and they point to the 158Met allele as conveying a vulnerability to the early environment.