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Alcoholism is a complex disorder arising from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM–IV) (American Psychiatric Association 1994) requires that three of seven criteria be present during a 12-month period for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. These criteria are tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, loss of control...

Over the last decade, three large-scale projects have catalyzed a revolution in genetic technologies and studies. First, the Human Genome Project laid the foundation for modern genetic studies of disease by determining the basic sequence of the 3 billion building blocks (i.e., base pairs) that make up the human genome and by identifying the approximately 25,000 genes included in this sequence (htt...

During the first decade of the new millennium, remarkable advances in technology allowed investigators in all areas of biological research to collect massive amounts of genetic data at an unprecedented rate. The genomics revolution, which began with the sequencing of the human genome, was the basis for efforts such as the 1,000 Genomes Project (http://www.1000genomes.org/) that strive to compile a...

The multiple genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors that play a role in the development of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) make it difficult to identify individual genes linked to these disorders. Nevertheless, some genetic risk factors (i.e., specific variants) associated with AUDs have been identified within many genes, some of which code for proteins involved in known biological pathways...

Alcohol abuse and dependence are estimated to affect 1 in 8 adults in the United States and several hundred million people worldwide (Grant et al. 2004). To define at-risk populations and develop better treatments, it is important to further identify the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to alcohol addiction. Recent evidence suggests that the body’s internal system that helps...

Agonist: An agent that mimics the actions or effects of another agent at a receptor (e.g., a drug that mimics the effects of a neurotransmitter).

Allele: One of two or more forms of a gene that reside at the same position on a pair of chromosomes; different alleles of a gene may serve the same function (e.g., code for an enzyme that breaks down alcohol) but may result in proteins with different...

The nervous system and the immune system interact closely to regulate the body’s immune responses, including inflammatory responses. Accordingly, the term “neuroimmune system” refers to the immune system and those components of the nervous system that help regulate immune responses and also encompasses the hormones and other signaling molecules that convey signals between the immune and nervous...

A host of biological (i.e., genetic) and environmental factors interact throughout the addictive process to influence alcohol use and abuse. These processes are accompanied by a number of behavioral and neural events that include, but are not limited to, changes in the motivational effects of ethanol (both rewarding and aversive), tolerance to some effects of ethanol, and withdrawal when ethanol...

Alcohol is one of the most widely used addictive drugs, and continued use and abuse can lead to the development of tolerance and dependence (Koob 2003a; Tabakoff et al. 1986). Numerous studies have shown that both genetic and environmental risk factors play a role in the development of alcoholism (Ducci and Goldman 2008; Edenberg and Foroud 2006; Farris et al. 2010). Genetic studies in both humans...