Age varying polygenic effects on alcohol use in African Americans and European Americans from adolescence to adulthood

Kit K Elam,Fazil Aliev,Zoe Neale,Thao Ha,Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant,Danielle Dick

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01923-x

Kit K Elam, Fazil Aliev + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01923-x

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Abstract

Genetic effects on alcohol use can vary over time but are often examined using longitudinal models that predict a distal outcome at a single time point. The vast majority of these studies predominately examine effects using White, European American (EA) samples or examine the etiology of genetic variants identified from EA samples in other racial/ethnic populations, leading to inconclusive findings about genetic effects on alcohol use. The current study examined how genetic influences on alcohol use varied by age across a 15 year period within a diverse ethnic/racial sample of adolescents. Using a multi-ethnic approach, polygenic risk scores were created for African American (AA, n = 192) and EA samples (n = 271) based on racially/ethnically aligned genome wide association studies. Age-varying associations between polygenic scores and alcohol use were examined from age 16 to 30 using time-varying effect models separately for AA and EA samples. Polygenic risk for alcohol use was found to be associated with alcohol use from age 22–27 in the AA sample and from age 24.50 to 29 in the EA sample. Results are discussed relative to the intersection of alcohol use and developmental genetic effects in diverse populations.

Highlights

Genetic effects on alcohol use can vary over time but are often examined using longitudinal models that predict a distal outcome at a single time point
In the European American (EA) sample, the polygenic risk scores (PRS) was positively correlated with alcohol use at ages 23–24, 26–27, 28–30
Mean level differences between AA and EA samples were detected for alcohol use at each wave (Fs > 4.72, ps < 0.03)

Summary

Introduction

Genetic effects on alcohol use can vary over time but are often examined using longitudinal models that predict a distal outcome at a single time point. The majority of genetics research on alcohol use has utilized White, European American (EA) samples or has examined genetic variants identified in samples of European descent in different ethnic populations 4 These considerations significantly limit understanding of developmental genetic influences underlying alcohol use in diverse populations, which in turn has important implications for identifying risk factors and prevention efforts that are effective across ethnic groups and developmental periods[4, 5]. The present study addresses these gaps by investigating the developmental effect of genetic predisposition for alcohol use in predicting alcohol use from adolescence to adulthood using an innovative time-varying effect modeling approach This was investigated using polygenic risk scores (PRS) created for African American (AA) and EA samples based on racially/ethnically aligned GWAS. The present study focuses on developmental genetic effects on alcohol use

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