GABBR1 and SLC6A1, Two Genes Involved in Modulation of GABA Synaptic Transmission, Influence Risk for Alcoholism: Results from Three Ethnically Diverse Populations.

Background: Animal and human studies indicate that GABBR1, encoding the GABAB1 receptor subunit, and SLC6A1, encoding the neuronal gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter GAT1, play a role in addiction by modulating synaptic GABA. Therefore, variants in these genes might predict risk/resilience for alcoholism.

Methods: This study included 3 populations that differed by ethnicity and alcoholism phenotype: African American (AA) men: 401 treatment-seeking inpatients with single/comorbid diagnoses of alcohol and drug dependence, 193 controls; Finnish Caucasian men: 159 incarcerated alcoholics, half with comorbid antisocial personality disorder, 181 controls; and a community sample of Plains Indian (PI) men and women: 239 alcoholics, 178 controls.

Association of the OPRM1 Variant rs1799971 (A118G) with Non-Specific Liability to Substance Dependence in a Collaborative de novo Meta-Analysis of European-Ancestry Cohorts.

The mu1 opioid receptor gene, OPRM1, has long been a high-priority candidate for human genetic studies of addiction. Because of its potential functional significance, the non-synonymous variant rs1799971 (A118G, Asn40Asp) in OPRM1 has been extensively studied, yet its role in addiction has remained unclear, with conflicting association findings. To resolve the question of what effect, if any, rs1799971 has on substance dependence risk, we conducted collaborative meta-analyses of 25 datasets with over 28,000 European-ancestry subjects.

Trait-aggressiveness and impulsivity: role of psychological resilience and childhood trauma in a sample of male prisoners.

Background: One of the major challenges for research in the field of human aggression is the need to define the role of personality and trait-like dimensions, such as impulsivity and aggressiveness, in predisposing to violent behavior.

Aims: 1) To determine whether trait- aggressiveness and impulsivity may be associated with socio-demographic, clinical and crime history variables in a sample of male prisoners; 2) to detect any association of those traits with measures of early traumatic experiences and current resilience traits.

Methods: A sample of male prisoners (n = 1356) underwent the Brown-Goodwin Assessment for Lifetime History of Aggression (BGLHA) and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS).

Interaction between FKBP5 and childhood trauma and risk of aggressive behavior.

Context: Childhood trauma may predispose individuals to aggressive behavior, and both childhood trauma and aggressive behavior are associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation.

Objective: To determine whether there would be an interaction between genetic variation in FKBP5 and childhood trauma in predicting aggressive behavior.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Medical and psychological risk factors for incident hypertension in type 1 diabetic african-americans.

Objective. To determine risk factors for the development of hypertension among African-Americans living with type 1 diabetes. Methods.

Haplotype-based study of the association of alcohol-metabolizing genes with alcohol dependence in four independent populations.

Background: Ethanol is metabolized by 2 rate-limiting reactions: alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) convert ethanol to acetaldehyde that is subsequently metabolized to acetate by aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH). Approximately 50% of East Asians have genetic variants that significantly impair this pathway and influence alcohol dependence (AD) vulnerability. We investigated whether variation in alcohol metabolism genes might alter the AD risk in four non-East Asian populations by performing systematic haplotype association analyses to maximize the chances of capturing functional variation.

Childhood trauma and depressive symptoms in type 1 diabetes.

Background: To examine the relationship of childhood trauma to depressive symptoms in type 1 diabetes, a chronic disease in which the frequency of depression is increased.

Method: One hundred fifty African American patients with type 1 diabetes seen between August 1993 and January 1998 completed the Beck Depression Inventory and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. They were also genotyped for a functional serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) that modulates resiliency.

Childhood trauma and prevalence of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Objective: To examine the relationship between childhood trauma and prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (either coronary disease or stroke) in Type 1 diabetes (DM).

Methods: From an original cohort of 725 African Americana with Type 1 DM, 444 (61.2%) were reexamined as part of a 6-year follow-up.