Study zeros in on gene that limits desire to drink alcohol
"The findings are based on the largest genome-wide association meta-analysis and replication study to date mapping and comparing the genetics -- the DNA -- of more than 105,000 light and heavy social drinkers," said Dr. David Mangelsdorf, Chair of Pharmacology at UT Southwestern and a corresponding author of the study. "The study identified a variation in the β-Klotho gene linked to the regulation of social alcohol consumption. The less frequent variant -- seen in approximately 40 percent of the people in this study -- is associated with a decreased desire to drink alcohol, " he said. Dr. Mangelsdorf runs a laboratory with Dr. Steven Kliewer, another corresponding author of the study published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ). "Excessive alcohol consumption is a major public health problem worldwide, causing more than 3 million deaths per year," said Dr. Kliewer, a Professor of Molecular Biology and ...