DENVER, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Genetic make up may predispose a person to drink more but may not increase one's genetic risk for alcoholism, U.S. researchers said.
Boris Tabakoff, Laura Saba and Paula Hoffman of the University of Colorado in Denver used rats to identify the genetic pathways affecting alcohol drinking behavior.
The study, published in BMC Biology, found the rats' drinking behavior was linked to the pleasure and reward pathways in the brain, and also linked to some of the same genetic systems that control satiety and appetite for food. Researchers directly compared genes involved in these alcohol-associated pathways in rats with the human versions of these genes in two male study groups from Montreal and Sydney to identify common genetic factors linked to alcohol use across species.
The genes identified as contributors to drinking behavior in the tested populations were not the same as genes found to predispose to alcohol dependence.
"We know that high levels of alcohol consumption can increase the risk of becoming alcohol dependent in those who have a genetic make up that predisposes to dependence," the researchers said in a statement. "This is a case of interaction between genes and environment. Indeed, in our study we found that, higher alcohol consumption in humans was positively correlated with alcohol dependence."
