Severity of alcohol dependence is associated with the fatty acid amide hydrolase Pro129Thr missense variant.

ABSTRACT: The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in reward and addiction. One of the two main endocannabinoid neurotransmitters, anandamide, is metabolized by fatty acid amide hydrolase, an enzyme with a functional genetic polymorphism (FAAH Pro129Thr, rs324420). The Thr129 allele has been linked to problem drug and alcohol use, but the association has not been widely replicated and may be stronger for clinical measures of severity rather than categorical diagnosis. In the present study, we sought to determine whether the Thr129 allele was associated with both alcohol dependence (AD) diagnosis and severity in a sample of 1434 European American and African American individuals, 952 of whom were diagnosed with lifetime AD. Participants were genotyped for FAAH rs324420, and ancestry was det

SUBMITTER: Sloan ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5538894 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature