M Adam Ali1, Michael J Way, Michael Marks, Irene Guerrini, Allan D Thomson, John Strang, Andrew McQuillin, Marsha Y Morgan. 1. aMolecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Division of Psychiatry bUCL Institute for Liver & Digestive Health, Division of Medicine, Royal Free Campus, University College London cAddictions Department, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London dBexley Substance Misuse Services, South London & Maudsley NHS Trust, Erith Health Centre, Erith, Kent, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The interpretation of genetic studies on alcohol dependence may be confounded by the co-occurrence of substance dependence, psychiatric disorders and alcohol-related comorbidities, for example, cirrhosis. Significant single-marker and haplotypic associations between polymorphisms in the zinc finger gene, ZNF699, and alcohol dependence were reported in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence population, one-third of whom had co-occurring substance dependence while 80% had identified psychiatric comorbidity. The aim of this study was to explore variant ZNF699 associations with alcohol dependence while exercising controls for potential confounders. METHODS: The study population was comprised of 1449 alcohol-dependent cases and 1283 population controls; all were of British or Irish ancestry. None of the cases had a history of dependence on other substances, and the frequency of comorbid depression was low. A separate, ancestry-matched cohort of 196 opioid-dependent cases was also included. Genotyping for the four previously identified SNPs of interest in ZNF699 was performed using K-Biosciences Competitive Allele Specific PCR. RESULTS: No single-marker associations were found between polymorphisms in ZNF699 and alcohol dependence per se. A significant allelic association was found between rs7254880 in ZNF699 and alcohol-related cirrhosis (n=292), using cases with no biopsy evidence of liver disease (n=314) as controls (P=0.013). Significant allelic associations were also found between rs12460279 (P=0.028), rs7252865 (P=0.012) and rs10854142 (P=0.016) in ZNF699 and opioid dependence. CONCLUSION: Phenotypic variation in study populations may contribute towards the nonreplication of genetic association studies on alcohol dependence; controls for recognised confounding variables should be exercised whenever possible.
BACKGROUND: The interpretation of genetic studies on alcohol dependence may be confounded by the co-occurrence of substance dependence, psychiatric disorders and alcohol-related comorbidities, for example, cirrhosis. Significant single-marker and haplotypic associations between polymorphisms in the zinc finger gene, ZNF699, and alcohol dependence were reported in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence population, one-third of whom had co-occurring substance dependence while 80% had identified psychiatric comorbidity. The aim of this study was to explore variant ZNF699 associations with alcohol dependence while exercising controls for potential confounders. METHODS: The study population was comprised of 1449 alcohol-dependent cases and 1283 population controls; all were of British or Irish ancestry. None of the cases had a history of dependence on other substances, and the frequency of comorbid depression was low. A separate, ancestry-matched cohort of 196 opioid-dependent cases was also included. Genotyping for the four previously identified SNPs of interest in ZNF699 was performed using K-Biosciences Competitive Allele Specific PCR. RESULTS: No single-marker associations were found between polymorphisms in ZNF699 and alcohol dependence per se. A significant allelic association was found between rs7254880 in ZNF699 and alcohol-related cirrhosis (n=292), using cases with no biopsy evidence of liver disease (n=314) as controls (P=0.013). Significant allelic associations were also found between rs12460279 (P=0.028), rs7252865 (P=0.012) and rs10854142 (P=0.016) in ZNF699 and opioid dependence. CONCLUSION: Phenotypic variation in study populations may contribute towards the nonreplication of genetic association studies on alcohol dependence; controls for recognised confounding variables should be exercised whenever possible.
Authors: Jeanne E Savage; Jessica E Salvatore; Fazil Aliev; Alexis C Edwards; Matthew Hickman; Kenneth S Kendler; John Macleod; Antti Latvala; Anu Loukola; Jaakko Kaprio; Richard J Rose; Grace Chan; Victor Hesselbrock; Bradley T Webb; Amy Adkins; Tim B Bigdeli; Brien P Riley; Danielle M Dick Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res Date: 2018-02-05 Impact factor: 3.455