New alcohol-related genes suggest shared genetic mechanisms with neuropsychiatric disorders.
Evangelos EvangelouHe GaoCongying ChuGeorgios NtritsosPaul BlakeleyAndrew R ButtsRaha PazokiHideaki SuzukiFotios KoskeridisAndrianos M YiorkasIbrahim KaramanJoshua ElliottQiang LuoStefanie AeschbacherTraci M BartzSebastian E BaumeisterPeter S BraundMichael R BrownJennifer A BrodyToni-Kim ClarkeNiki L DimouJessica D FaulGeorg HomuthAnne U JacksonKatherine A KentistouPeter K JoshiRozenn N LemaitrePenelope A LindLeo-Pekka LyytikainenMassimo ManginoYuri MilaneschiChristopher P NelsonIlja Maria NolteMia-Maria PeräläOzren PolasekDavid J PorteousScott M RatliffJennifer A SmithAlena StančákováAlexander TeumerSamuli TuominenSébastien ThériaultJagadish VangipurapuJohn B WhitfieldAlexis WoodJie YaoBing YuWei ZhaoDan E ArkingJuha AuvinenChunyu LiuMinna MännikköLorenz RischJerome I RotterHarold SniederJuha VeijolaAlexandra I BlakemoreMichael BoehnkeHarry CampbellDavid ConenJohan G ErikssonHans Jörgen GrabeXiuqing GuoPim van der HarstCatharina A HartmanCaroline HaywardAndrew C HeathMarjo-Riitta JarvelinMika KähönenSharon L R KardiaMichael KühneJohanna KuusistoMarkku LaaksoJari M T LahtiTerho LehtimäkiAndrew M McIntoshKaren L MohlkeAlanna C MorrisonNicholas G MartinAlbertine J OldehinkelBrenda W J H PenninxBruce M PsatyOlli T RaitakariIgor RudanNilesh J SamaniLaura J ScottTim D SpectorNiek VerweijDavid R WeirJames F WilsonDaniel LevyJoanna TzoulakiJimmy D BellPaul M MatthewsAdrian RothenfluhSylvane DesrivieresGunter SchumannPaul ElliottPublished in: Nature human behaviour (2019)
Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. Alcohol consumption is a heritable complex trait. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of alcohol consumption (g d-1) from the UK Biobank, the Alcohol Genome-Wide Consortium and the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Plus consortia, collecting data from 480,842 people of European descent to decipher the genetic architecture of alcohol intake. We identified 46 new common loci and investigated their potential functional importance using magnetic resonance imaging data and gene expression studies. We identify genetic pathways associated with alcohol consumption and suggest genetic mechanisms that are shared with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.