Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry

The author attempted to examine the allelic association between the A1 allele of Dopamine D₂ receptor and alcoholism in Koreans. The allelic distribution of Taq I polymorphism of the D₂ dopamine receptor gene with alcoholism was examined in 67 Korean alcoholics and compared with 100 Korean controls. In alcoholics, the numbers of alcoholics with A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2 were 11(16.4%), 30(44.8%) and 26(38.8%) respectively and in controls with A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2 were 17(17.0%), 42(42.0%) and 41(41.0%), respectively. The prevalence of the A1 allele in alcoholics was 61.2% and 59.0% in controls. And the frequency of the A1 allele in alcoholics and controls were 0.39 and 0.38, respectively. There was not significant difference in the frequency of the A1 allele between alcoholics and controls. This data suggest that the A1 allele is not associated with alcoholism in Koreans. The author conclude that our data do not support an allelic association between the A1 allele at Dopamine D₂ receptor and alcoholism. Further systemized studies will be necessary to determine whether the role of allele of Dopamine D₂ receptor is major effect gene or modifying effect gene in the pathogenesis of alcoholism.

Keywords Alcoholism;Dopamine D2 receptor;Allelic association.