Search resultsThe genetics of alcohol metabolism: Role of alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase variants
Title
The genetics of alcohol metabolism: Role of alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase variants
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2007
Authors
Journal
Alcohol Research and Health
Volume
30
Issue
1
Pagination
5 - 13
Date published
2007
ISBN
15357414 (ISSN)
Keywords
alcohol, Alcohol and other drug (AOD) use (AODU), abuse and dependence, alcohol dehydrogenase, Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), Alcoholism, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), ALDH1A1 protein, human, allele, Alleles, AVP protein, human, enzymology, Ethanol, Ethanol metabolism, ethnic group, gene frequency, gene linkage disequilibrium, genetic predisposition, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic theory of AODU, genetic variability, genetics, Genetics and heredity, genotype, human, Humans, Linkage Disequilibrium, Liver, metabolism, neurophysin, Neurophysins, Protective factors, protein precursor, Protein Precursors, review, Risk Factors, unclassified drug, Variation (Genetics), vasopressin derivative, Vasopressins
Abstract
The primary enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism are alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Both enzymes occur in several forms that are encoded by different genes; moreover, there are variants (i.e., alleles) of some of these genes that encode enzymes with different characteristics and which have different ethnic distributions. Which ADH or ALDH alleles a person carries influence his or her level of alcohol consumption and risk of alcoholism. Researchers to date primarily have studied coding variants in the ADH1B, ADH1C, and ALDH2 genes that are associated with altered kinetic properties of the resulting enzymes. For example, certain ADH1B and ADH1C alleles encode particularly active ADH enzymes, resulting in more rapid conversion of alcohol (i.e., ethanol) to acetaldehyde; these alleles have a protective effect on the risk of alcoholism. A variant of the ALDH2 gene encodes an essentially inactive ALDH enzyme, resulting in acetaldehyde accumulation and a protective effect. It is becoming clear that noncoding variants in both ADH and ALDH genes also may influence alcohol metabolism and, consequently, alcoholism risk; the specific nature and effects of these variants still need further study.