Association Study Between Heroin Dependence And DRD2 Receptor Gene Taq1A Polymorphism And Catechol-O-methytransferase Gene Val158Met Polymorphism

Objective: To explore the relationship between heroin dependence and DRD2 receptor gene TaqlA polymorphism and catechol-O-methytransferase (COMT) gene Val158Met polymorphism. Method: Investigate the epidemic information, clinical characters including drug abuse history, protracted withdrawal symptoms and craving level of 175 heroin dependence patients. The Polymers Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphrenia (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to detect the genotype and allele frequencies of DRD2 gene TaqlA and COMT gene Vall58Met polymorphism in 175 patients with heroin dependence and 106 healthy controls. Result: l).There was significant difference in genotype frequencies of DRD2 gene TaqlA between male heroin dependent subjects and controls(P=0.025). 2).There was significant difference of heroin abuse characters in different groups with different genotype of DRD2 TaqlA and COMT Vall58Met (P< 0.05) . 3). genotype and allele frequencies of COMT Val158Met were difference between patients with heroin dependence combine alcohol abuse and ones with only heroin dependence(P=0.042, P=0.049) . 4).No significant association has been found between craving level and the polymorphism of two genes ( P > 0.05 ) . Conclusions: 1).The polymorphism of DRD2 TaqlA may be associated with Han male heroin dependence in Yunnan. 2). The polymorphism of DRD2 TaqlA may be associated with the different characters of heroin abuse during different stages. The patients with A1 allele(Al/Al,Al/A2) may be more vulnerable to addiction and hard to detoxification or liable to relapse. 3). No significant correlation has been found between COMT Vall58Met and heroin dependence, but it was associate with the different characters of heroin abuse during different stages. The patients with high activity allele(Val/Val, Val/Met) may be more vulnerable to addiction and have more sever abstinence...