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Original Article

Exp Neurobiol 2009; 18(1): 32-36

Published online June 30, 2009

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Association of Glutatione S-Transferase (GSTM1 and GSTT1) Gene Deletions in Korean Patients with Alcoholism

Zheng Long Tai1, Yoon Kyung Uhm2, Jong-Woo Kim3 and Sung-Vin Yim2,4*

1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Brain Science and Engineering Institute, CMRI, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Departments of 2Pharmacology, 3Neuropsychiatry, 4Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-2-961-0295, FAX: 82-2-968-0560
e-mail: ysvin@khu.ac.kr

Abstract

Alcoholism is caused by a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Findings obtained from several studies indicate that some tissue damage occurring in alcohol abusers is due to the generation of reactive oxygen species during the ethanol metabolism The objective of this study was to examine the associations between the polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase (GST) M1 and T1 genes and Korean male patients with alcoholism. We investigated the distribution of deletion of GSTM1 and GSTT1 in Korean male patients diagnosed with alcoholism (n=133) and Korean male control subject without alcoholism (n=91) with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. GSTM1 showed significant associations with alcoholism susceptibility (p=0.0002). But GSTT1 showed no significant associations (p=0.0948). In combined analysis, both gene deletion and GSTM1 deletion were associated with alcoholism (p<0.0001 and p<0.0150). These results suggest that GSTM1 gene deletion might play an important role in risk for alcoholism.

Keywords: alcoholism, genetic polymorphism, glutathione S-transferase, association