F3-1 overview of recent progress in alcoholic liver disease

Abstract

The relationship between polymorphisms at the alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (ADH2), ADH3, CYP4502E1 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) loci and the individual predisposition to alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease in Caucasians is controversial.We determined the genotypes of ADH2, ADH3, CYP4502E1 (Pst-I and Dra-I) and ALDH2 in 519 male Spaniards: 264 alcoholic subjects (47 without liver disease, 118 with non-cirrhotic liver disease and 99 with cirrhosis) and 255 non-alcoholic subjects (64 healthy controls, 110 with non-cirrhotic non-alcoholic liver disease and 81 with cirrhosis unrelated to alcohol). Genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP methods on white cell DNA.The distribution of the allelic variants (allele *1 and allele *2) in the whole subjects analyzed was: ADH2 93.1% and 6.9%; ADH3 55.7 and 44.3%; CYP4502E1 Dra-I 11.2 and 88.8%; CYP4502E1 Pst-I 96.2 and 3.8% and ALDH2 100 and 0%, respectively. No differences were observed in the allelic distributions of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic subjects for the loci examined. Allele distribution in alcoholics with no liver disease, with alcoholic steatosis or hepatitis, and with cirrhosis was also similar.ADH2, ADH3, and CYP4502E1 Pst-I and Dra-I genetic variations are not related to alcoholism or susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease in our male population. ALDH2 locus is monomorphic.