J Korean Soc Biol Psychiatry.  2002 Jul;9(1):42-49.

Association of Genetic Polymorphisms of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase II and CYP2E1 and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Alcohol Dependence

• Chung IW
• Kim YR
• Chi KH
• Kim H

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This study was to explore the relation of genetic polymorphisms of ALDH2 and CYP2E1 to clinical characteristics of alcoholic patients and alcohol induced liver damage.
METHODS
The genotype and allele frequencies of 128 male hospitalized patients who met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence were compared with 128 healthy male control subjects. The genetic informations of ALDH2 and CYP2E1 were identified with the technique of polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The clinical characteristics of the alcoholic patients were assessed and analyzed in relation to the family history of alcoholism. For the relation of CYP2E1 genetic polymorphism to the liver damage, the blood levels of various liver function indicators such as ALT, AST, and protein were checked out.
RESULTS
1) The alcoholic patients with the family history of alcoholism had the earlier onset of age (p=0.001), the longer duration of illness (p=0.045), and higher NCA scores (p=0.018) than those without the family history of alcoholism. 2) Most alcoholic patients were homozygous for ALDH2*1, compared to control subjects. (p=0.000) 3) There was no difference of CYP2E1 distribution between alcoholic patients and control subjects. However, alcoholic patients having mutant c2 allele showed higher alcoholism severity scores (p=0.004) and more hospitalizations (p=0.014) than those having c1 allele. 4) There was no relationship between CYP2E1 genotype and the functional abnormalities of the liver.
CONCLUSION
This study suggested that ALDH2*1 is highly related alcohol dependence. Also mutant c2 allele of CYP2E1 is correlated with the severity of alcoholism and the number of hospitalization. But genetic polymorphim of CYP2E1 seems to have no relation to liver damages.

MeSH Terms

Alcoholics
Alcoholism*
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase*
Alleles
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1*
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Gene Frequency
Genotype
Hospitalization
Humans
Liver
Male
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polymorphism, Genetic*
Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1