Genetic factors may influence the liability to treatment outcome and
medical complications in alcoholism. In the present study we
investigated the IL-1A rs 1800587, IL-1B rs3087258, TNF-alpha rs 1799724
and the HTTLPR variants in a sample of 64 alcohol dependents and 47
relatives versus a set of clinical parameters and outcome measures.
Alcohol dependents had a less favorable clinical profile compared to
relatives (higher cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, glutamic
oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase,
gamma-glutamyltransferase). After detoxification, all clinical indexes
improved and hepatic enzyme levels were similar in alcohol dependents
and relatives, except for the GGT that remained significantly higher in
alcohol dependents. Alcoholic depressive and anxiety scores were
significantly reduced after detoxification. IL-1A, IL- 1B, TNF-alpha and
HTTLPR variants were not associated with any baseline clinical index or
change after detoxification. In our sample IL-1A, IL-1B, TNF-alpha and
HTTLPR do not appear as liability factors for alcohol toxicity or
detoxification outcome, however the small sample size may influence the
observed results. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd