Nieratschker Vanessa, Batra Anil, Fallgatter Andreas J
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen, Germany, Calwerstrasse 14, Tuebingen, 72076 Germany.
J Mol Psychiatry. 2013 Jul 11;1(1):11. doi: 10.1186/2049-9256-1-11. eCollection 2013.
Alcohol dependence is a severe and common disorder associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Genetic as well as environmental factors are known to modulate susceptibility to alcohol dependence. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that this interaction between the genome and the environment is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, e.g. DNA methylation at CpG sites. Following an introduction of epigenetic regulation of gene transcription, this review will provide an overview over recent genetic and epigenetic findings in the context of alcohol dependence focusing on human studies. Finally, we will discuss the current limitations of epigenetic studies as well as the implications of genetic and epigenetic findings for the development of better treatment and prevention strategies.
酒精依赖是一种严重且常见的疾病，与高发病率和死亡率相关。已知遗传因素和环境因素会调节对酒精依赖的易感性。越来越多的证据表明，基因组与环境之间的这种相互作用是由表观遗传机制介导的，例如CpG位点的DNA甲基化。在介绍基因转录的表观遗传调控之后，本综述将概述酒精依赖背景下最近的遗传和表观遗传学研究结果，重点是人类研究。最后，我们将讨论表观遗传学研究的当前局限性以及遗传和表观遗传学研究结果对开发更好的治疗和预防策略的意义。
