Chartier Karen G, Karriker-Jaffe Katherine J, Cummings Cory R, Kendler Kenneth S
School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Am J Addict. 2017 Aug;26(5):446-460. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12478. Epub 2017 Jan 24.
This review aimed to inform the current state of alcohol research on the joint effects of genes and the environment conducted in U.S. racial/ethnic minority populations, focusing on African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians.
A key-word and author-based search was conducted and supplemented with direct contact to researchers in this area to ensure a comprehensive inclusion of published, peer-reviewed studies. These studies were considered in terms of the racial/ethnic population groups, phenotypes, genetic variants, and environmental influences covered. Research findings from alcohol epidemiologic studies were highlighted to introduce some potential environmental variables for future studies of gene and environment (G-E) relationships.
Twenty-six (N = 26) studies were reviewed. They predominantly involved African American and Asian samples and had a very limited focus on Latinos/Hispanics and American Indians. There was a wide range of alcohol-related phenotypes examined, and studies almost exclusively used a candidate gene approach. Environmental influences focused on the most proximate social network relationships with family and peers. There was far less examination of community- and societal-level environmental influences on drinking. Epidemiologic studies informing the selection of potential environmental factors at these higher order levels suggest inclusion of indicators of drinking norms, alcohol availability, socioeconomic disadvantage, and unfair treatment.
The review of current literature identified a critical gap in the study of environments: There is the need to study exposures at community and societal levels.
These initial studies provide an important foundation for evolving the dialogue and generating other investigations of G-E relationships in diverse racial/ethnic groups. (Am J Addict 2017;26:446-460).
本综述旨在介绍美国少数族裔人群中关于基因与环境联合作用的酒精研究现状，重点关注非裔美国人、拉丁裔/西班牙裔、亚裔和美国印第安人。
通过关键词和作者检索，并与该领域研究人员直接联系以补充信息，确保全面纳入已发表的、经过同行评审的研究。从种族/族裔人群、表型、基因变异和环境影响等方面对这些研究进行考量。重点介绍酒精流行病学研究的结果，以引入一些潜在环境变量，供未来基因与环境（G-E）关系研究使用。
共审查了26项研究。这些研究主要涉及非裔美国人和亚裔样本，对拉丁裔/西班牙裔和美国印第安人的关注非常有限。研究涉及的酒精相关表型范围广泛，且几乎都采用候选基因方法。环境影响主要集中在与家庭和同伴最直接的社会网络关系上。对社区和社会层面饮酒环境影响的研究较少。流行病学研究为在这些更高层面选择潜在环境因素提供了依据，建议纳入饮酒规范、酒精可得性、社会经济劣势和不公平待遇等指标。
对当前文献的综述发现环境研究存在关键空白：需要研究社区和社会层面的暴露因素。
这些初步研究为在不同种族/族裔群体中开展关于基因与环境关系的对话和进行其他调查奠定了重要基础。（《美国成瘾杂志》2017年；26:446 - 460）
