Genes Contributing to the Development of Alcoholism: An Overview

Genetic factors (i.e., variations in specific genes) account for a substantial portion of the risk for alcoholism. However, identifying those genes and the specific variations involved is challenging. Researchers have used both case–control and family studies to identify genes related to alcoholism risk. In addition, different strategies such as candidate gene analyses and genome-wide association studies have been used. The strongest effects have been found for specific variants of genes that encode two enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism—alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase. Accumulating evidence indicates that variations in numerous other genes have smaller but measurable effects.