Review: Genetic and environmental risk factors for alcohol use disorders in American Indians and Alaskan Natives

Abstract

Background and Objectives Genetic and environmental predictors for alcohol use disorder (AUD) are both important in the general population. As a group, American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals (AI/AN) are at increased risk for alcohol-related morbidity /mortality, early onset problem drinking and AUD. Methods Alcohol consumption behaviors amongst AI/AN tribes, environmental stressors and genetic studies in AI/AN and European-ancestry individuals are reviewed followed by an analysis of unique difficulties for undertaking research with AI/AN. Results Some AI/AN tribes have high rates of childhood trauma that predict psychopathology including AUD. The deleterious effects of historical trauma and forced placement in boarding schools cross generations to the present day. There are scanty numbers of genetic studies of AUD in AI/AN and these derive from only a few tribes. However, it is important to note that the results are largely similar to findings in European-ancestry individuals indicating that AI/AN do not have increased genetic risk for AUD. Conducting AI/AN genetic studies has been challenging, in part because of tribe disillusionment and mistrust over past experiences and unique hurdles in getting consent from tribes, each a sovereign nation. However, it is encouraging that a new way forward has been established – community-based participatory research with tangible health benefits and a focus on strength-based approaches. Conclusions and Scientific Significance Given the high prevalence of AUD in many AI/AN tribes and limited knowledge about genetic risk-resilience factors, it is important for our understanding of prevention and treatment that AI/AN research progresses and that more tribes are represented.

Conclusion: Special issue on genetic and alcohol use disorder research with diverse racial/ethnic groups: Key findings and potential next steps

“…There are striking similarities across these papers by Enoch and Albaugh 6 , Matsushita and Higuchi 7 , Martinez et al 8 , and Dick et al 9 . Each paper raises concerns about the limited racial/ethnic diversity in genetic study samples, subjects’ often distrust of investigators, and the reluctance of some racial/ethnic groups to participate in genomics research.…”

“…Enoch and Albaugh 6 begin this section by describing the alcohol consumption patterns of American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) individuals. Both groups are at elevated risk for heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems, although there are 567 federally recognized AI/AN tribes that are different in many ways, including the prevalence of addictions.…”

A systematic review: Candidate gene and environment interaction on alcohol use and misuse among adolescents and young adults

“…• Netherlanders; race was not reported • Drinking quantity at [15][16][17][18][19] • OPRM1 (AG/GG) • Parental alcohol related rule setting at 14…”

“…For example, the impact of family or community environments was larger on substance use in early adolescence while the impact of peer or school environments was larger in late adolescence (n ¼ 91,778). 13 A handful of GxE reviews on drinking behaviors exist, but none systematically address the question of whether developmentally distinct patterns emerge in youth (ie, ages [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. A few review studies focused on developmental patterns of GxE but were not comprehensive reviews of all extant studies.…”

“…14,15 Some GxE reviews on drinking behaviors draw general conclusions about all ages 16 or focused on particualr ethnic populations. [17][18][19] Thus, the aim of this paper is to comprehensively review cGxE studies to evaluate existing evidence for cGxE effects among adolescents and young adults.…”