Association of the neuronal nicotinic receptor beta2 subunit gene (CHRNB2) with subjective responses to alcohol and nicotine.

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Ehringer MA, Clegg HV, Collins AC, Corley RP, Crowley T, Hewitt JK, Hopfer CJ, Krauter K, Lessem J, Rhee SH, Schlaepfer I, Smolen A, Stallings MC, Young SE, Zeiger JS

Association of the neuronal nicotinic receptor beta2 subunit gene (CHRNB2) with subjective responses to alcohol and nicotine.

Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2007 Jul 5;144B(5):596-604.

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17226798 [ View in PubMed

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Abstract

Nicotine addiction and alcohol dependence are highly comorbid disorders that are likely to share overlapping genetic components. We have examined two neuronal nicotinic receptor subunit genes (CHRNA4 and CHRNB2) for possible associations with nicotine and alcohol phenotypes, including measures of frequency of use and measures of initial subjective response in the period shortly after first using the drugs. The subjects were 1,068 ethnically diverse young adults participating in ongoing longitudinal studies of adolescent drug behaviors at the University of Colorado, representing both clinical and community samples. Analysis of six SNPs in the CHRNA4 gene provided modest support for an association with past 6 month use of alcohol in Caucasians (three SNPs with P < 0.08), but no evidence for an association with tobacco and CHRNA4 was detected. However, a SNP (rs2072658) located immediately upstream of CHRNB2 was associated with the initial subjective response to both alcohol and tobacco. This study provides the first evidence for association between the CHRNB2 gene and nicotine- and alcohol-related phenotypes, and suggests that polymorphisms in CHRNB2 may be important in mediating early responses to nicotine and alcohol.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets

Drug	Target	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Nicotine	Neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-4	Protein	Humans	Yes	Agonist	Details
Nicotine	Neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit beta-2	Protein	Humans	Yes	Agonist	Details