Determination of the Relationship Between Craving and 4-repeat Allele of DRD4 Gene Polymorphism in the Early Withdrawal Period of Alcohol Use Disorders

Abstract

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a disease with chronic relapses. Risk factors ofcraving, which is thought to be one of the predictors of relapse, have been studied for along time. The DRD4 gene is located on chromosome 11p and has a 48-base pair variablenumber of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphisms in the 3rd exon. This study aimed toinvestigate if a relationship existed between craving and DRD4 VNTR polymorphism andto determine the predictors of craving.Methods: A total of 125 patients with AUD were included in the study. The sociodemographicdata form, the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), the Obsessive CompulsiveDrinking Scale (OCDS), and the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) were appliedto the patients. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to determine the DRD4 VNTRvariant of all participants in the peripheral blood sample.Results: In the 4R/4R homozygous group, it was found that the age at first alcohol use washigher and the scores of the OCDS on the seventh day were lower, but this relationshipcould not be demonstrated in further statistical analyses. In the stepwise linear regressionmodel, the age at first alcohol use, MAST score, duration of AUD, and delirium tremenshistory were found to be the predictors of craving.Conclusion: DRD4 VNTR polymorphism does not play a role as a predictor of craving. A decreasein age at first alcohol use, an increase in the MAST score, and the presence of deliriumtremens were found to be the predictors of craving among the participants of this study.