Severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and the T1128c polymorphism of the neuropeptide Y gene

Summary. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) modulates ethanol drinking in rodents. The C-allele of the T1128C polymorphism of the human NPY gene has been previously associated with elevated alcohol consumption in a Finn population study. The present study tested the hypothesis that the T1128C polymorphism is associated with the diagnosis of alcoholism or with severe forms of alcohol withdrawal and with the daily consumption of alcohol in alcoholic patients. After PCR-RFLP genotyping, two groups of alcoholics with severe withdrawal symptoms (delirium tremens, n = 83; withdrawal seizures, n = 65) were compared to alcoholics with mild withdrawal symptoms (n = 97). An elevated frequency of the C-allele in the individuals with severe withdrawal symptoms was found, however not reaching statistical significance. Further a group of healthy controls (n = 102) was compared to all included alcoholics (n = 216) revealing no significant result. Alcoholics carrying the C-allele reported a non significantly elevated daily consumption of alcohol compared to alcoholics with the TT genotype. All alcohol dependent subjects with severe withdrawal symptoms revealed a significantly elevated daily consumption of alcohol compared to alcoholics with only mild withdrawal symptoms. More studies on different ethnic groups are needed to further elucidate the influence of the NPY gene on alcoholism. Received January 7, 2002; accepted April 17, 2002 Published online June 28, 2002 Acknowledgements This study was financially supported by the “fortuene-fund” (project 490) of Tuebingen University, Germany. We are grateful to all individuals participating in the study. Authors' address: Dr. M. D. Koehnke, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Osianderstrasse 24, D-72076 Tuebingen, Federal Republic of Germany, e-mail: michael.koehnke@med.uni-tuebingen.de