• El Wui Loh, Cathy S J Fann, Yuh Terng Chang, Ching Jui Chang, and Andrew T A Cheng.
• National Genotyping Center at Academia Sinica, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. 2004 Jan 1; 28 (1): 15-9.

BackgroundNonselective opioid antagonists reduce alcohol consumption under various experimental situations, and several association studies have examined possible roles of opioid receptor mu (OPRM), delta (OPRD), and kappa (OPRK) genes in the development of alcohol dependence.MethodsWe examined 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the OPRM, OPRD, and OPRK genes in 158 alcohol-dependent subjects and 149 controls. Differences in allele frequency and genotype distribution between case subjects and controls, as well as the deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, were examined using Fisher's exact tests.ResultsNo significant difference in either allele or genotype frequency was found between case subjects and controls for each of the SNPs.ConclusionsOur findings do not support a possible role of the opioid receptor genes for the proclivity to alcohol dependence in the Taiwanese Han.

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