Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.

ABSTRACT: Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders¹. They are heritable^2,3 and etiologically related^4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts^6-11. 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

SUBMITTER: Liu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6358542 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature