Review. Genetics of addictions: strategies for addressing heterogeneity and polygenicity of substance use disorders.

ABSTRACT: Addictions are common psychiatric disorders that exert high cost to the individual and to society. Addictions are a result of the interplay of multiple genetic and environmental factors. They are characterized by phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity as well as polygenicity, implying a contribution of different neurobiological mechanisms to the clinical diagnosis. Therefore, treatments for most substance use disorders are often only partially effective, with a substantial proportion of patients failing to respond. To address heterogeneity and polygenicity, strategies have been developed to identify more homogeneous subgroups of patients and to characterize genes contributing to their phenotype. These include genetic linkage and association studies as well as functional genetic analysis usin

SUBMITTER: Wong CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2607332 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature