Recent Advances in Genetic Studies of Alcohol Use Disorders

AbstractPurpose of ReviewAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is a complex genetic disorder with very high heritability. Not only does this polygenic disorder result in increased morbidity and mortality, but it is also a substantial social and economic burden on families and the nation. For the past three decades, several genetic studies were conducted to identify genes and pathways associated with AUD. This review aims to summarize past efforts and recent advances in genetic association studies of AUD and related traits.Recent FindingsInitial genetic association studies achieved limited success and suffered from low power due to small sample sizes. AUD is a polygenic trait and data from several thousands of individuals were required to identify the genetic factors of small effect sizes. The scenario changed recently with technological advances and significant reduction in the cost of genome-wide association studies (GWASs). This enabled researchers to generate genomic data on mega-biobanks and cohorts with access to extensive clinical and non-clinical phenotypes. Public access to data from biobanks and collaborative efforts of researchers led to identification of several novel loci associated with AUDs and related traits. Efforts are now underway to identify the causal variants under the GWAS loci to identify target genes and biological mechanisms underpinning AUDs. Many GWAS variants occur in promoter or enhancer regions of the genes and are involved in regulation of gene expression ...
Source: Current Genetic Medicine Reports - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research