[ADH 2, 3 and ALDH 2 gene frequency in Japanese alcoholics]

To elucidate genetic susceptibility to alcoholic liver injury (ALD), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method assay was developed to detect point mutations in each gene and gene frequency in various liver diseases was studied. It was shown previously that ALDH2(1) gene was more frequently found in patients with ALD (confirmed in this study), probably because they are able to consume too much alcohol (non-flushing type). This study revealed that, in addition to this ALDH heterogeneity, ADH heterogeneity may correlate with the severity of alcoholic liver injury, especially in those was low ADH activity and tend to have severe damage.