FKBP5 genotype interacts with early life trauma to predict heavy drinking in college students.

ABSTRACT: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is debilitating and costly. Identification and better understanding of risk factors influencing the development of AUD remain a research priority. Although early life exposure to trauma increases the risk of adulthood psychiatric disorders, including AUD, many individuals exposed to early life trauma do not develop psychopathology. Underlying genetic factors may contribute to differential sensitivity to trauma experienced in childhood. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is susceptible to long-lasting changes in function following childhood trauma. Functional genetic variation within FKBP5, a gene encoding a modulator of HPA axis function, is associated with the development of psychiatric symptoms in adulthood, particularly among individuals exposed to

SUBMITTER: Lieberman R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5045724 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature