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No Association of the Structural Dopamine D2 Receptor (DRD2) Variant 311 Cys with Alcoholism
Author(s) -
Finckh Ulrich,
Widdern Ole,
GiraldoVelasquez Mario,
Podschus Jan,
Dufeu Peter,
Sander Thomas,
Harms Helmut,
Schmidt Lutz G.,
Rommelspacher Hans,
Rolfs Arndt
Publication year - 1996
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.1530-0277.1996.tb01087.x
Subject(s) - allele , dopamine receptor d2 , genetics , polymorphism (computer science) , medicine , receptor , biology , gene
The human dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) has been implied in the vulnerability for alcoholism and/or the modification of its severity. This is supported through animal experimental and pharmacological data. We analyzed the DRD2 311 Ser/Cys polymorphism in 312 German alcoholics and 131 ethnically matched controls to investigate the association of genetic DRD2 variants with alcoholism or clinical characteristics of homogeneous subgroups of alcoholics. We observed no association between the 311 Cys variant and alcoholism, and none of the clinical characteristics evaluated was significantly associated with 311 Cys. The allele frequencies of the 311 Cys variant were 0.026 and 0.031 in the alcoholics and controls, respectively. These are the highest reported 311 Cys frequencies in Caucasians. The DRD2 Taq I A1/A2 restriction fragment length polymorphism was analyzed simultaneously in our samples. In most cases, the 311 Cys allele is associated with the Taq I A2‐allele. Data do not suggest a clinical relevance of the 311 Cys variant in alcoholism. However, the relevance of this variant in other diseases or the existence of other DRD2 variants with altered receptor function or expression cannot be excluded.