VCU School of Medicine: studio individua variazioni genetiche correlate alla dipendenza da alcol
LINK BETWEEN GENETICA VARIATION, ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE FOUND
WASHINGTON: Researchers have identified genetic variations that explain why some drinkers develop a dependence on alcohol while others do not.
The findings by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine can help identify those at risk for addiction early and design better drug treatments to help people stop drinking.
"There are few and inadequate pharmacological treatments to help people who want to stop drinking, because this is a terrifically difficult human genetics problem," said Jill C Bettinger, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, VCU School of Medicine.
"If we can better understand the molecular effects of alcohol, we can design more rational treatments and even warn people who are more susceptible to developing a dependence," Bettinger said.
The researchers examined the role of a protein complex - called switching defective/sucrose nonfermenting (SWI/SNF) - in determining the behavioural response of roundworms to alcohol.
Researchers watched through microscopes as the tiny worms became drunk on ethanol, studying how their initial sensitivity to the alcohol and tolerance changed based on which genes were expressed within the SWI/SNF complex.
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(Articolo pubblicato dal CUFRAD sul sito www.alcolnews.it)