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Allele Frequencies of the Preproenkephalin A (PENK) Gene CA Repeat in Asians, African‐Americans, and Caucasians: Lack of Evidence for Different Allele Frequencies in Alcoholics
Author(s) -
Chan Rebecca J.,
McBride Andrew W.,
Thomasson Holly R.,
Ykenney Abi,
Crabb David W.
Publication year - 1994
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/j.1530-0277.1994.tb00905.x
Subject(s) - allele , naltrexone , allele frequency , endogenous opioid , population , genetics , locus (genetics) , opioid antagonist , demography , biology , medicine , gene , opioid , (+) naloxone , environmental health , receptor , sociology
Evidence from animal models and from recent reports on the efficacy of the opioid antagonist naltrexone in the treatment of alcoholism suggests that the endogenous opioid systems may play a role in alcohol seeking behavior. The gene encoding preproenkephalin A (PENK) is flanked at its 3’end by a polymorphic (CA) n . repeat. We determined the allele frequencies for this locus in samples of Chinese and Atayal living in Taiwan, Caucasians living in the United States and Byelorussia, and African‐Americans living in the United States. We compared the allele frequencies of nonalcoholics in each population with those of alcoholics with or without alcohol‐induced organ pathology. There was no difference in allele frequencies within any racial group when alcoholics with or without organ pathology were compared; there was also no difference in allele frequency between nonalcoholics and alcoholics within the two Asian populations, Caucasians, or African‐Americans. There were highly significant differences in the frequency of the various length polymorphism between the Asian, Caucasian, and African‐American samples.