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Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.
Liu, M, Jiang, Y, Wedow, R, Li, Y, Brazel, DM, Chen, F, Datta, G, Davila-Velderrain, J, McGuire, D, Tian, C, et al
Nature genetics. 2019;(2):237-244
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Abstract
Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders1. They are heritable2,3 and etiologically related4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts6-11. In sample sizes up to 1.2 million individuals, we discovered 566 genetic variants in 406 loci associated with multiple stages of tobacco use (initiation, cessation, and heaviness) as well as alcohol use, with 150 loci evidencing pleiotropic association. Smoking phenotypes were positively genetically correlated with many health conditions, whereas alcohol use was negatively correlated with these conditions, such that increased genetic risk for alcohol use is associated with lower disease risk. We report evidence for the involvement of many systems in tobacco and alcohol use, including genes involved in nicotinic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic neurotransmission. The results provide a solid starting point to evaluate the effects of these loci in model organisms and more precise substance use measures.
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New alcohol-related genes suggest shared genetic mechanisms with neuropsychiatric disorders.
Evangelou, E, Gao, H, Chu, C, Ntritsos, G, Blakeley, P, Butts, AR, Pazoki, R, Suzuki, H, Koskeridis, F, Yiorkas, AM, et al
Nature human behaviour. 2019;(9):950-961
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Abstract
Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. Alcohol consumption is a heritable complex trait. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of alcohol consumption (g d-1) from the UK Biobank, the Alcohol Genome-Wide Consortium and the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Plus consortia, collecting data from 480,842 people of European descent to decipher the genetic architecture of alcohol intake. We identified 46 new common loci and investigated their potential functional importance using magnetic resonance imaging data and gene expression studies. We identify genetic pathways associated with alcohol consumption and suggest genetic mechanisms that are shared with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.