Study links 29 gene variants to problematic alcohol use

Washington D.C.: In a breakthrough study, researchers have identified 29 genetic variants linked to problematic drinking in a genome-wide analysis of more than 435,000 people.
The researchers at Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues report the study in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
“The new data triple the number of known genetic risk loci associated with problematic alcohol use,” said Yale’s Joel Gelernter, the Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and professor of genetics and of neuroscience, who is the senior author of the multi-institutional study.
The study includes genome-wide analysis of people of European ancestry contained in four separate biobanks or datasets. The researchers looked for shared genetic variants among those who met criteria for problematic alcohol use, including alcohol use disorder and alcohol use with medical consequences. These disorders are major contributors to a wide variety of medical problems worldwide.
The analysis found 19 previously unknown independent genetic risk factors for problematic alcohol use and confirmed 10 previously identified risk factors.
The meta-analysis of biobank data also included information on genetic risk factors for several psychiatric disorders. This information allowed researchers to study shared genetic associations between problematic drinking and disorders such as depression and anxiety.