Genome-wide association studies of alcohol dependence and substance use disorders

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) currently represent the most systematic approach to genetic research into complex disorders. They can detect associations of common variants in genomic regions in the absence of an a priori assumption. Most of the GWAS of addiction performed to date have focused on alcohol dependence or smoking behavior. Four GWAS of alcohol dependence have been published thus far, and only two single nucleotide polymorphisms have received modest support of replication in a subsequent study. Many more GWAS have been conducted for smoking behavior. One large, single GWAS and meta-analyses of the phenotype "smoking quantity" have generated convincing evidence for the contribution of variants in genes for cholinergic nicotinic receptor subunits. This article focuses on GWAS of alcohol addiction and provides an overview of GWAS of other substance abuse disorders.