Subscribe to our social channels to get the latest news about Hungary!
You regularly drink alcohol? Hungarian Semmelweis University has bad news
Change language:
Researchers identified several genes and their variants that trigger both substance use and other potentially addictive behaviours. The discovery not only underpins previous studies which showed that addiction could be genetically determined – but also indicates possible overlaps between different types of disorders influenced by the same genes.
Previous research has mostly focused on investigating possible relationships between genetic variants and one specific type of addiction. This study by researchers from Hungarian, British, American and Gibraltarian universities examined a broad spectrum of substance and non-substance addictions and their possible associations with 32 gene polymorphisms (variants). The results have been published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine, semmelweis.hu says.
The genetic association analysis is part of the Psychological and Genetic Factors of Addictions (PGA) study assessing multiple addictive behaviours in 3003 young adults (the average age was 21). The researchers collected data at Hungarian high schools, colleges, and universities. All participants provided DNA samples and answered questionnaires.
They were asked about their alcohol consumption, tobacco, cannabis and other drug use, and their engagement in seven potentially addictive behaviours (internet use, gaming, social networking sites use, gambling, exercising, hair pulling, and eating). Participation was anonymous, and questionnaire data and DNA information were paired using a unique identification number for each participant.
Dr. Csaba Barta, Associate Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology of Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, said:
“It has been previously proven that a strong genetic influence exists in case of different addictions. Heritability, which is the measure of genetic contribution to a trait, is estimated to be between 50% and 70% for addictions, and the rest is environmental effects. However, the specific genetic variants and their neurobiological roles in addiction are not so well known.
We found 29 nominally significant associations in the current study, and nine of those remained significant after statistical correction for multiple testing. The results showed that some genes and their variants could make a person susceptible to both the use of certain substances and also some other potentially addictive behaviours, which means that some people with these gene variants could have a predisposition to more than one type of addiction.
The researchers observed that one of the genes, FOXN3 and its so-called rs759364 A allele (variant), was associated with more frequent alcohol consumption. The same allele was also associated with a higher occurrence of problematic internet use and online gaming. In contrast, the carriers of the other, G allele were more prone to exercise addiction. The team also found significant associations between the DRD2/ANKK1 gene and its so-called rs1800497 A allele and cannabis use. The GDNF gene’s rs1549250 and rs2973033 variants and the CNR1 gene’s rs806380 variant showed associations with lifetime use of “other drugs” (other than cannabis).