Shared additive genetic variation for alcohol dependence among subjects of African and European ancestry

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Leslie Brick, Emory University; Matthew C. Keller, University of Colorado at Boulder; Valerie S. Knopik, Rhode Island Hospital; John E. McGeary, Rhode Island Hospital; Rohan H. Palmer, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/adb.12578
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Addiction Biology
• ISSN: 1355-6215
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 132
• End Page: 144
• Grant/Funding Information: Funding support for the Yale Study was provided through the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) and the Genetics of Alcohol Dependence in American Populations (CIDR-Gelernter Study). CIDR-Gelernter Study is a genome-wide association studies funded as part of the Genetics of Alcohol Dependence in American Populations. Assistance with phenotype harmonization and genotype cleaning, as well as with general study coordination, was provided by the Genetics of Alcohol Dependence in American Populations.; Funding support for the SAGE study was supported by NIH and NHLBI grant # R01HL117004; study enrollment supported by the Sandler Family Foundation, the American Asthma Foundation, the RWJF Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, Harry Wm. and Diana V. Hind Distinguished Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences II.; Funding support for genotyping, which was performed at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Inherited Disease Research, was provided by the NIH GEI (U01HG004438), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the NIH contract “High throughput genotyping for studying the genetic contributions to human disease” (HHSN268200782096C).; Funding support for the OZ-ALC GWAS was provided through the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).; This project was supported by a K01 grant (K01AA021113 awarded to Dr. Palmer) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a T32 (T32MH019927; which supports the postdoctoral training of Dr. Brick), and an R01 (MH100141) from the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH; awarded to Dr. Keller).; Finally, funding support for the GWAS of Heroin Dependence was provided by R01DA17305.; Assistance with data cleaning was provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.; CIDR-OZ-ALC GWAS was funded as part of the NIAAA grant 5 R01 AA013320–04. Assistance with phenotype harmonization and genotype cleaning, as well as with general study coordination, was provided by the CIDROZ-ALC GWAS.; Support for collection of OZ-ALC datawas provided by the MARC: Risk Mechanisms in Alcoholism and Comorbidity (MARC; P60 AA011998–11).
• Keywords: African ancestry; heritability; alcohol dependence
• Research Categories: Psychology, Behavioral; Biology, Genetics

Abstract

Alcohol dependence (AD) affects individuals from all racial/ethnic groups, and previous research suggests that there is considerable variation in AD risk between and among various ancestrally defined groups in the United States. Although the reasons for these differences are likely due in part to contributions of complex sociocultural factors, limited research has attempted to examine whether similar genetic variation plays a role across ancestral groups. Using a pooled sample of individuals of African and European ancestry (AA/EA) obtained through data shared within the Database for Genotypes and Phenotypes, we estimated the extent to which additive genetic similarity for AD between AA and EAs using common single nucleotide polymorphisms overlapped across the two populations. AD was represented as a factor score by using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual dependence criteria, and genetic data were imputed by using the 1000 Genomes Reference Panel. Analyses revealed a significant single nucleotide polymorphism-based heritability of 17 percent (SE = 5) in EAs and 24 percent (SE = 15) in AAs. Further, a significant genetic correlation of 0.77 (SE = 0.46) suggests that the allelic architecture influencing the AD factor for EAs and AAs is largely similar across the two populations. Analyses indicated that investigating the genetic underpinnings of alcohol dependence in different ethnic groups may serve to highlight core etiological factors common to both groups and unique etiological factors specific to each ethnic group.