Association Between the Functional Polymorphism of Catechol‐O‐Methyltransferase Gene and Alcohol Consumption Among Social Drinkers
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A common functional genetic polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene (Val158 Met) results in 3- to 4-fold differences in COMT enzyme activity and dopamine inactivation rate. Previous studies have shown that type I alcoholism is more common among subjects with low activity COMT genotype (LL), compared with high activity (HH) or heterozygotic (LH) genotypes. METHODS: We studied alcohol consumption and the COMT genotype in middle-aged Finnish men (n 896), who represented an unselected ethnically homogenous population sample and reported using alcohol during the past year. Average alcohol use in pure ethanol (grams per week) was compared between subjects with LL genotype and subjects with LH or HH genotypes. RESULTS: Men with LL genotype (30% of all subjects) reported 27% higher weekly alcohol consumption compared with the two other genotype groups (p < 0.05). The difference remained statistically significant after a multivariate adjustment for sociodemographic factors and prior or existing diseases (p = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that COMT polymorphism may contribute significantly to alcohol intake not only in alcoholics but also in a general male population.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Studies linking COMT to alcoholism are equivocal.
“Studies linking COMT to alcoholism are equivocal (Ishiguro et al., 1999; Kauhanen et al., 2000; Kim et al., 2006; Samochowiec et al., 2006; Sery et al., 2006).”
From Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction (2009) · cites this paper as Kauhanen et al., 2000
Cites
Lachman, H. M., Papolos, D. F., Saito, T., Yu, Y.-M., Szumlanski, C. L., & Weinshilboum, R. M. (1996) · Pharmacogenetics · doi:10.1097/00008571-199606000-00007 · Cited by 1,788 · see citing works
Lakka, T. A., Venalainen, J. M., Rauramaa, R., Salonen, R., Tuomilehto, J., & Salonen, J. T. (1994) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199406023302201 · Cited by 793 · see citing works
Self-citationFamilial Transmission of Substance Use Disorders
Merikangas, K. R., Stolar, M., Stevens, D. E., Goulet, J., Preisig, M. A., Fenton, B., Zhang, H., O'Malley, S. S., & Rounsaville, B. J. (1998) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.55.11.973 · Cited by 783 · see citing works
Neurotransmitter regulation of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area
Kalivas, P. W. (1993) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/0165-0173(93)90008-n · Cited by 704 · see citing works
Alcohol stimulates the release of dopamine and serotonin in the nucleus accumbens
Yoshimoto, K., McBride, W. J., Lumeng, L., & Li, T. (1992) · Alcohol · doi:10.1016/0741-8329(92)90004-t · Cited by 499 · see citing works
Long, J. C., Knowler, W. C., Hanson, R. L., Robin, R. W., Urbanek, M., Moore, E., Bennett, P. H., & Goldman, D. A. (1998) · American Journal of Medical Genetics · doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-8628(19980508)81:3 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
SALONEN, J. T. (1988) · PubMed · Cited by 348 · see citing works
Self-citationKauhanen, J., Kaplan, G. A., Goldberg, D. E., & Salonen, J. T. (1997) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.315.7112.846 · Cited by 278 · see citing works
Self-citationAlcohol and mortality: A review
Poikolainen, K. (1995) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/0895-4356(94)00174-o · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Strous, R. D., Bark, N. M., Parsia, S. S., Volavka, J., & Lachman, H. M. (1997) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/s0165-1781(96)03111-3 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Lachman, H. M., Nolan, K. A., Mohr, P., Saito, T., & Volavka, J. (1998) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.155.6.835 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Tiihonen, J., Hallikainen, T., Lachman, H., Saito, T., Volavka, J., Kauhanen, J., Salonen, J. T., Ryynänen, O.-P., Koulu, M., Karvonen, M. K., et al. (1999) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4000509 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Syvänen, A., Tilgmann, C., Rinne, J., & Ulmanen, I. (1997) · Pharmacogenetics (London) · doi:10.1097/00008571-199702000-00009 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Kirov, G., Murphy, K. C., Arranz, M. J., Jones, I. R., McCandles, F., Kunugi, H., Murray, R. M., McGuffin, P., Collier, D. A., Owen, M. J., et al. (1998) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4000385 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Papolos, D. F., Veit, S., Faedda, G. L., Saito, T., & Lachman, H. M. (1998) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4000410 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
General and Specific Inheritance of Substance Abuse and Alcoholism
Goldman, D. A., & Bergen, A. W. (1998) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.55.11.964 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Association analysis of the catechol O-methyltransferase gene and bipolar affective disorder
Gutiérrez, B., Bertranpetit, J., Guillamat, R., Vallès, V., Arranz, M. J., Kerwin, R., & Fañanás, L. (1997) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.154.1.113 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Alcohol consumption guidelines: relative safety vs absolute risks and benefits
Jackson, R., & Beaglehole, R. (1995) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91496-x · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Assignment of the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene to human chromosome 22 in somatic cell hybrids
Brahe, C., Bannetta, P., Khan, P. M., Arwert, F., & Serra, A. (1986) · Human Genetics · doi:10.1007/bf00282539 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Royal colleges' advice on alcohol consumption
Gaziano, J. M., & Hennekens, C. H. (1995) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.311.6996.3a · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The genetics of addictions: uncovering the genes
Goldman, D., Oroszi, G., & Ducci, F. (2005) · Nature Reviews Genetics · doi:10.1038/nrg1635 · Cited by 1,099 · see citing works
Bilder, R. M., Volavka, J., Lachman, H. M., & Grace, A. A. (2004) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300542 · Cited by 769 · see citing works
Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction
Crews, F. T., & Boettiger, C. A. (2009) · Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2009.04.018 · Cited by 679 · see citing works
“Studies linking COMT to alcoholism are equivocal (Ishiguro et al., 1999; Kauhanen et al., 2000; Kim et al., 2006; Samochowiec et al., 2006; Sery et al., 2006).”
BackgroundBoettiger, C. A., Mitchell, J. M., Tavares, V. C., Robertson, M., Joslyn, G., D'Esposito, M., & Fields, H. L. (2007) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2551-07.2007 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
The Genetic Basis of Addictive Disorders
Ducci, F., & Goldman, D. (2012) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.psc.2012.03.010 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Enoch, M., Waheed, J. F., Harris, C. R., Albaugh, B., & Goldman, D. (2006) · Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research · doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00045.x · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Yacubian, J., & Büchel, C. (2009) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.05.015 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Association study of catechol-O-methyltransferase gene polymorphism in Korean male alcoholics
Kweon, Y.-S., Lee, H. K., Lee, C. T., & Pae, C.-U. (2005) · Psychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1097/00041444-200506000-00014 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kauhanen, J., Hallikainen, T., Tuomainen, T., Koulu, M., Karvonen, M. K., Salonen, J. T., & Tiihonen, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Turku (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Kauhanen, Jussi
- Venue
- Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2000-02
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-139
- ISSN
- 0145-6008 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-0277
- OpenAlex
- W2068298851
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL044199)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacogenetics and Drug Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- catechol-O-methyltransferase, COMT Val158Met polymorphism, alcohol consumption, social drinkers, alcoholism, COMT genotype, middle-aged men
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Alleles, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Finland, Genotype, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Genetic, Cohort Studies, Multivariate Analysis
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
