The Association of Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms in Dopamine Receptor D2 Gene with Heroin Dependence in an Iranian Population

Abstract

Drug addiction is a psychiatric condition known to be associated with the dopaminergic system, which has avital part in the reward mechanism and etiology of drug addictions in the brain. This study’s aim is to assessthe relationship of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in TaqIB and TaqIA of the DRD2 gene with the risk ofdrug dependence in a Northwestern Iranian population. 83 drug-dependent subjects and 83 healthy subjectshave been recruited in this study. After genomic DNA isolation, two single-nucleotide polymorphisms,TaqIA (rs1800497) and TaqIB (rs1079597), were genotyped using the PCR-RFLP technique. Data analysishas been performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-24) software for the chi-square (X 2 ) test. No significant difference was detected in the TaqIA polymorphism between the control andcase study groups (p > .05). In the case group, the TaqIB polymorphism was higher than the control group,showing a statistically significant variation (p < .05). The SNPs of TaqIB (rs1079597) in the DRD2 gene areassociated with genetic susceptibility to drug abuse in the Iranian-Azeri population.