Investigation of the genetic markers associated with alcoholic liver diseases

Polymorphic alleles of three genes (GSTMl, CYP1A1 and ApoB) were analysed in the context of the relationship between alcohol and liver diseases. DNAs were prepared from whole blood samples of 84 male controls, 71 male patients with alcoholic liver diseases. PCR and related techniques were used for detection of these polymorphic loci. The frequency of GSTMl gene deletion was significantly higher in the patients with alcoholic liver diseases than in controls (P < 0.05), whereas the frequencies of the genotypes (A, AB, B) in the individuals with GSTMl gene were not statistically different between both groups. In addition, the frequency of GYP1A1*A was found to be significantly higher in alcoholic liver diseases than in controls (P < 0.01). Gene frequencies of ApoB were not different between the two groups. These data suggest that GSTM1 gene deletion and CYP1A1*A gene increase the risk for alcoholic liver diseases.