Review of the Genetics of Alcoholism and a Confirmatory Study of an Acute Alcohol Withdrawal Quantitative Trait Locus in Mice

摘要

Alcoholism is a costly human disease both fiscally and emotionally. Therefore, a greater understanding of the disease could potentially save money and lives. The past 20 years of research have provided substantial evidence that alcoholism is, at least in part, hereditary. The specific genes responsible for various other diseases have been discovered in the past decade, but alcoholism is too complex to offer such a simple solution. Although certain genes might help to predict the disease, it is a complex, multigenic trait for which 'the gene' will never be discovered. In order to understand the genetics of this complex trait, we can exploit the fairly recently developed method of quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. Furthermore, an application of the QTL method to an animal model of alcohol withdrawal should be one of the most rewarding realms to explore. Animal models of an alcoholism component have proven valid and useful in understanding withdrawal, one of an assortment of various presumed components of alcoholism. A number of QTLs for acute alcohol withdrawal has been nominated through recombinant inbred methodology, but these nominees require replication through a number of methods. One of the most efficient methods is genotypic selection, in which animals are made homozygous for a single QTL in one generation, while the rest of the genotype segregates. This study uses genotypic selection to confirm a QTL for acute alcohol withdrawal on mouse Chromosome 4.