Researchers have identified a gene associated with a person’s “appetite” for alcohol, potentially paving a way for a pharmaceutical treatment of alcoholism.
Alcohol drinking is a complex, heritable trait, but few genes are known to be associated with it.
To identify genes associated with alcohol moderation, David J Mangelsdorf from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and colleagues performed a genome-wide study analysing alcohol intake in more than 105,000 individuals of European descent.
The authors of the study, published in journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, identified a variant of the gene encoding b-Klotho – essential for the hormones FGF21 and FGF19 – that was associated with alcohol consumption.
FGF21 has been previously associated with an increased preference for sugar in mice.
The authors of the US and UK study found that mice lacking b-Klotho in the brain showed significantly increased alcohol preference and consumption, compared with mice with b-Klotho. Administration of FGF21 failed to inhibit alcohol preference in mice lacking b-Klotho, suggesting that the effects of FGF21 on alcohol consumption depend on b-Klotho expression in the brain.
It was also found that mice lacking b-Klotho did not show any difference in measures of anxiety, compared with mice with b-Klotho.
According to the authors, the results suggest that a pathway operating between the liver and brain and involving FGF21 and b-Klotho plays a role in regulating alcohol drinking in humans.
It’s hoped this could serve as a potential “pharmacologic target” for reducing alcohol consumption by reducing their cravings.
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