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Genetic and environmental contributions to smoking
W R True1, A C Heath, J F Scherrer
1St Louis University Health Sciences Center, School of Public Health, MO 63108-3342, USA. TRUE@SLUVCA.SLU.EDU
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
|March 7, 1998
Summary
Genetic factors significantly influence smoking persistence, accounting for 70% of the risk. Shared environmental factors also play a role in initiating smoking. Nicotine sensitivity heritability is key for interventions.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Genetics
- Psychiatric Genetics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Smoking initiation and persistence are complex behaviors with significant public health implications.
- Understanding the etiological factors, including genetic and environmental influences, is crucial for developing effective interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the relative contributions of genetic and shared environmental factors to the initiation and maintenance of smoking behaviors.
- To investigate the genetic heritability of smoking persistence.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from a large sample of male-male monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry.
- Employed genetic modeling to analyze smoking initiation and persistence data collected via mail and telephone surveys in 1987.
Main Results:
- Genetic and shared environmental effects explained 50% and 30% of the variance in smoking initiation risk, respectively.
- Genetic factors alone accounted for 70% of the variance in smoking persistence among regular smokers.
- Findings align with previous twin studies on smoking in Scandinavian and Australian populations.
Conclusions:
- A substantial genetic influence underlies smoking persistence, highlighting the role of heritable traits like nicotine sensitivity.
- Genetic predisposition plays a significant role in maintaining smoking behavior, suggesting targeted interventions addressing heritability.
- Future smoking prevention and cessation efforts should consider the impact of heritable traits such as nicotine sensitivity.