No association between metabotropic glutamate receptors 7 and 8 (mGlur7 and mGlur8) gene polymorphisms and withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens in alcohol-dependent individuals.
Two studies reported a significant association of alcohol withdrawal delirium with the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3) and the dopamine receptor 3 (DRD3).
Previous studies have found an association between the A9 allele (nine-copy repeat) of the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene and two complications of alcohol withdrawal, namely delirium tremens (DT) and alcohol withdrawal seizures (AWS).
It was investigated whether the allele A9 of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1; SLC6A3) is associated with alcoholism, delirium tremens (DT), alcohol withdrawal seizures (AWS), or the daily alcohol intake.
Several, but not all, studies found that the DAT1 variable number tandem repeat (9-repeat allele) was associated with alcohol-withdrawal symptoms, such as seizures and delirium tremens.
We reanalyzed the role of the DAT gene in the lifetime risk for AWS and DT in 120 alcohol-dependent patients, taking into account potentially confounding factors.
Two candidate genes involved in the dopamine transmission, dopamine receptor D3, and solute carrier family 6, were each associated with DT in 2 different study populations.
Two studies reported a significant association of alcohol withdrawal delirium with the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3) and the dopamine receptor 3 (DRD3).
These data suggested that the individuals possessing allelic mutation (-45T) in the promoter region of the CCK gene might be susceptible to delirium tremens caused by alcohol abuse.
Our in vitro study supports previously reported observations of elevated VEGF and chemokines in tear fluids of DTS patients, reiterating the role of inflammatory reactions in DTS.
When compared to the general population, this genetic polymorphism was not found to be more common in alcohol dependence per se, which excludes the possibility of spurious association between CHRM2 and DT.
However, we found a significant interaction effect of the SLC6A4 promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and DRD2 exon 8 single nucleotide polymorphism rs6276 on AWS and/or DT history (P = 0.009), which became more significant after adjustment for lifetime maximum number of drinks consumed per 24 hours (P < 0.001).
A functional genetic polymorphism of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) that participates in converting dopamine into its final metabolite HVA was investigated for an association with alcoholism or DT during alcohol withdrawal.
We found that S-allylcysteine (SAC), diallyl disulde (DADS) and diallyl tetrasulfide (DTS) treatment increased the number of autophagosomes of RAW264.7 cells, inhibited the phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase beta-1 (p70S6K/S6K1) which is a substrate of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and significantly enhanced autophagy flux.
The possible allelic association suggests that allelic variation at the TH locus mediates vulnerability to alcohol-withdrawal delirium in a small proportion of alcohol-dependent subjects.
Our study investigated whether the DBH-1021C-->T polymorphism and plasma DbetaH activity were associated with alcoholism or with delirium tremens (DT) during alcohol withdrawal by analyzing 207 German alcoholic and 102 healthy control subjects.