Comparison of SNP Polymorphism of Alcohol Metabolizing Related Enzyme Genes in Intoxicated Individuals and Nonalcoholic Population

Research Article

Austin J Forensic Sci Criminol. 2015; 2(3): 1031.

Comparison of SNP Polymorphism of Alcohol Metabolizing Related Enzyme Genes in Intoxicated Individuals and Nonalcoholic Population

Li Li*, Ping Xiang, Yan Liu, Yan Shi, Yuan Lin and Zhenmin Zhao

Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, China

*Corresponding author: Li Li, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, 200063, China

Received: July 16, 2015; Accepted: August 08, 2015; Published: August 11, 2015

Abstract

Objective: To compare the distributions of SNP allele and genotype about alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (ADH2), aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) and CYP2E1 in intoxicated individuals and nonalcoholic population.

Methods: 100 individuals who were penalized duo to intoxicated driving were genotyped for 40 SNPs of ADH2,ALDH2 and CYP2E1 using multiplex PCR and Iplex chemistry on a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer and compared with a reference group of 99 blood donors. Allele frequencies and genotype frequencies of 40 SNP loci were calculated and compared in the two groups.

Results: Among the 40 SNP loci, seven SNPs (e.g. rs698, rs2241894, rs1789915, rs13306164, rs671, rs28371746 and rs2515641) were polymorphic in the intoxicated population, but only six SNPs (e.g. rs698, rs2241894, rs13306164, rs671, rs28371746 and rs2515641) were polymorphic in the control individuals. Two SNP loci (rs671 in and rs2515641) were found to have a significant difference in frequency distribution between the two populations (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Among the above 40 SNP loci of ADH2,ALDH2 and CYP2E1 genes, rs671 and rs2515641 in the intoxicated population were found to differ in allele and genotype frequency distribution from the nonalcoholic population and may be related to alcohol intoxication.

Keywords: ADH; ALDH; CYP2E1; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Genetic polymorphism

Introduction

The metabolism of drug shows inter-individual variation and inter-ethnic variation. Because of the difference of Drug-Metabolizing Enzyme (DMEs) activity, the individuals can be divided into Poor Metabolizers (PMs), Extensive Metabolizers (EMs) and Ultra-Rapid Metabolizers (UMs) [1,2]. Therefore, it is usually a hard work to interpret drug related poisoning or death in forensic science [3]. Now punitive measures against people who drink and drive have been strictly enforced. In china, current standard for judging drunk drinking and drunken drinking is mainly based on the concentration of ethanol in blood. The driver whose alcohol concentration above 0.2mg/mL in blood is convicted of drunk drinking and the driver whose alcohol concentration above 0.8mg/mL in blood is convicted of drunken drinking, but, except for alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) and cytochrome P450 2E1 enzyme (CYP2E1) has also been found to be involved in alcohol metabolism [4-7], which means that ALDH2 and CYP2E1 with gene polymorphism may also play dominant role in alcohol metabolism. Individuals with distinct genotypes are different in alcohol tolerance and show unequal behavioral responses after drinking [8]. Because of high concentration of acetaldehyde in blood transformed from ethanol, poor metabolism of acetaldehyde may lead to traffic accident even if the individual’s alcohol concentration below 0.2mg/mL in blood. The individual differences are mainly caused by the gene polymorphisms of ADH, ALDH and CYP2E1. It was confirmed that the presence of the less-active form of alcohol dehydrogenase- 1B encoded by ADH1B*1/*1 and active form of ALDH2 encoded by ALDH2*1/*1 increases the risk of alcoholism in East Asians [9]. SNPs were found to be related to the polymorphism of enzyme activity [8], base deletions, insertions, substitutions or transversions in genes of ADH, ALDH2 and CYP2E1 may lead to changes of amino acid sequences and result in enzyme activities lost or decreased or increased. In order to investigate SNP polymorphism of alcohol metabolizing- related enzyme genes in Chinese Han population, we genetyped 40 SNPs of ADH2, ALDH2 and CYP2E1 based on multiplex amplification and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization timeof- flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) [10,11] and compared the SNP polymorphism in intoxicated population and nonalcoholic population.

Materials and Methods

Selection of SNP loci and design of primers

Corresponding to sequences of genes coding for ADH2, ALDH2 and CYP2E1, 40 SNP loci (Table 1) were selected via NCBI website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/. Forty groups of primes were designed via Mass ARRAY Assay Design software (Sequenom, Inc.). Each group has three primes, including a pair of PCR primes and a single base extension prime (Table 2). Primers were synthesized by Shanghai Biological Engineering Technology Corporation.