Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jun 2012
ReviewCommon liability to addiction and "gateway hypothesis": theoretical, empirical and evolutionary perspective.
Two competing concepts address the development of involvement with psychoactive substances: the "gateway hypothesis" (GH) and common liability to addiction (CLA). ⋯ Whereas the "gateway" hypothesis does not specify mechanistic connections between "stages", and does not extend to the risks for addictions, the concept of common liability to addictions incorporates sequencing of drug use initiation as well as extends to related addictions and their severity, provides a parsimonious explanation of substance use and addiction co-occurrence, and establishes a theoretical and empirical foundation to research in etiology, quantitative risk and severity measurement, as well as targeted non-drug-specific prevention and early intervention.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jun 2012
Review Meta AnalysisEthnic-specific meta-analyses of association between the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism and alcohol dependence among Asians and Caucasians.
Many studies have investigated the association between the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism (rs1799971) and alcohol dependence, but the results were inconsistent. To better understand this relationship, ethnicity-specific meta-analyses were conducted. ⋯ The OPRM1 A118G polymorphism may contribute to the susceptibility of alcohol dependence in Asians but not in Caucasians.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jun 2012
ReviewCommon and specific liability to addiction: approaches to association studies of opioid addiction.
Opioid addiction, whether to opiates such as heroin and morphine, and/or to non-medical use of opioids, is a major problem worldwide. Although drug-induced and environmental factors are essential for the liability to develop opioid addiction, the genetic background of an individual is now known also to play a substantial role. ⋯ In spite of the inherent difficulties in obtaining large well-phenotyped cohorts for genetic studies, new findings have been reported that are being used to develop testable hypotheses into the biological basis of opioid addiction.