Alcohol abuse and alcoholism, remain major causes of ill-health and human suffering in the western world at an astronomical expense. Infact, a report by Keeffe indicates that by 1990 figures, alcohol- related problems resulted in over $140 billion in capital expenditure. Since recent studies suggest that the occurrence of alcohol abuse could be highly influenced by the presence or absence of key metabolizing enzymes across ethnic populations, the elaborate ethnic bonds and cultural syntax that accrue from ethnicity, may indeed serve to improve or worsen biological fitness. Thus, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and the disastrous toll in human lives and property that arise therfrom (across populations), do so, only with some degree of complicity with ethno- genetic factors. To further understand the complex interplay of factors between alcohol and ethno-genetics, this pilot study purposes to determine, how alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH2) genotypes and liver volume (LV), influence alcohol elimination rate (AER) using the Indiane Breath Alcohol Clamping (BrAC) technic. We hypothesize that within ethnic populations, ADH2 genotype and LV are the primary determinants of AER.
The specific aims therefore, are: 1. Identify the frequency of the ADH2 genotypes across ethnic groups (African-Americans-AF-Am; Africans (Nigeria)-AF-Ni; Africans (Ethiopia)-AF-Et; and Caucasians-CAU). 2. Determine LV across ethnic groups (African-Americans-AF-Am; Africans (Nigeria)-AF-Ni; Africans (Ethiopia)-AF-Et; and Caucasians- CAU). 3. Assess the influence of LV on AER within define ADH2 genotype (ADH2*1) and 4. Compare AER between ADH2*1 and ADH2*3 genotypes, for a define range of LV.
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