The top association signal for AW severity was in sortilin family neurotrophin receptor gene SORCS2 on chromosome 4 (European American meta-analysis n = 1,478, p = 4.3 × 10<sup>-9</sup> ).
Taurine restores the exploratory behavior following alcohol withdrawal and decreases BDNF mRNA expression in the frontal cortex of chronic alcohol-treated rats.
Our results suggest an association between BDNF expression and the symptomatology of alcohol withdrawal and imply that changes in the methylation of the BDNF IV gene may contribute to alcohol consumption.
A quantitative trait loci study indicated that genes localized to 11p13, where the BDNF gene is mapped (11p13-15), increase the risk for severe alcohol withdrawal.