Genomewide Association Study for Maximum Number of Alcoholic Drinks in European Americans and African Americans

Background: We conducted a genomewide association study (GWAS) for maximum number of alcoholic drinks consumed in a 24-hour period ("MaxDrinks"), in 2 independent samples comprised of over 9,500 subjects, following up on our GWAS for alcohol dependence (AD) in European Americans (EAs) and African Americans (AAs).

Methods: The samples included our GWAS samples (Yale-UPenn) recruited for studies of the genetics of drug or AD, and a publicly available sample: the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment (SAGE). Genomewide association analysis was performed for ~890,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using linear association random effects models. EAs and AAs were separately analyzed.

Results: The results confirmed significant associations of the well-known functional loci at ADH1B with MaxDrinks in EAs (rs1229984 Arg48His p = 5.96 × 10(-15) ) and AAs (rs2066702 Arg370Cys, p = 2.50 × 10(-10) ). The region of significant association on chromosome 4 was extended to LOC100507053 in AAs but not EAs. We also identified potentially novel significant common SNPs for MaxDrinks in EAs in the Yale-UPenn sample: rs1799876 at SERPINC1 on chromosome 1 (4.00 × 10(-8) ) and rs2309169 close to ANKRD36 on chromosome 2 (p = 5.58 × 10(-9) ). After adjusting for the peak SNP rs1229984 on ADH1B, rs1799876 was nearly significant (p = 1.99 × 10(-7) ) and rs2309169 remained highly significant (2.12 × 10(-9) ).

Conclusions: The results provide further support that ADH1B modulates alcohol consumption. Future replications of potential novel loci are warranted. This is the largest MaxDrinks GWAS to date, the first in AAs.