Marisol Silva-Vera*, Oscar Alejandro Martínez Silva and Mariana Martínez García

Division of Health Sciences and Engineering, Celaya-Salvatierra Campus, University of Guanajuato, Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico

*Corresponding Author:Marisol Silva-Vera, Division of Health Sciences and Engineering, Celaya-Salvatierra Campus, University of Guanajuato, Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Received: November 18, 2024; Published: June 24, 2025

Abstract

Alcoholism is a common but little-recognized problem among the elderly. Two-thirds of alcoholics are known to age with the medical and psychosocial sequelae of early-onset alcoholism. The definitions for alcohol abuse and dependence may not apply as easily to older people. Older adults are a heterogeneous group, and risky drinking can be difficult to recognize. Describe the genetic markers and alcoholism in older adults. A bibliographic search was conducted in the ScienceDirect, PubMed, WHO information, and geriatric guidelines databases. The following search terms were used: addictions in the elderly, alcoholism in the elderly, and genetic markers of addictions in the elderly in Spanish and English. Alcohol abuse may be an underestimated problem among aging people. The relationship between alcohol consumption, risk factors, consequences, and reasons for consumption must be studied from different perspectives. Genetic factors show significant evidence of a distinct susceptibility to the development of alcoholism. Research focused on genetic aspects will help to clarify the central mechanisms involved in alcoholism. It is necessary to establish prevention and treatment strategies in older adults with alcoholism that prevent medical complications.

 Keywords: Older Adult; Alcoholism; Genetic Markers; Addiction; Aging

References

1. Edenberg HJ. “Genetics of alcohol use disorders”. In: Miller PM, editor. Biological research on addiction. London: Elsevier Science & Technology Books/Academic Press (2013): 500-508.
2. Gelernter J and Polimanti R. “Genetics of substance use disorders in the era of big data”. Nature Reviews Genetics 22 (2021): 712-729.
3. Immonen S., et al. “Prevalence of at-risk drinking among older adults and associated sociodemographic and health-related factors”. The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging 15 (2011): 789-794.
4. Hurley TD and Edenberg HJ. “Genes encoding enzymes involved in ethanol metabolism”. Alcohol Research 34 (2012): 339-344.
5. Kranzler HR., et al. “Genome-wide association study of alcohol consumption and use disorder in 274,424 individuals from multiple populations”. Nature Communication 10 (2019): 1499.
6. Rietschel M and Treutlein J. “The genetics of alcohol dependence”. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1282 (2013): 39-70.
7. Kuerbis A., et al. “Substance Abuse Among Older Adults”. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 30 (2014): 629-654.
8. Salvatore JE., et al. “Genes, Environments, and Sex Differences in Alcohol Research”. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 78 (2017): 494-501.
9. Abdellaoui A., et al. “Genomic relationships across psychiatric disorders including substance use disorders”. Drug Alcohol Dependence 220 (2021): 108535.
10. Agrawal A., et al. “Developing a quantitative measure of alcohol consumption for genomic studies on prospective cohorts”. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 70 (2009): 157-168.
11. Millwood IY., et al. “Conventional and genetic evidence on alcohol and vascular disease a etiology: a prospective study of 500 000 men and women in China”. The Lancet 393 (2019): 1831-1842.
12. Harada S., et al. “A new genetic variant in the Sp1 binding cis element of cholecystokinin gene promoter region and relationship to alcoholism”. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 22 (1998): 93S-96S.
13. Rotzinger S and Vaccarino FJ. “Cholecystokinin receptor subtypes: role in the modulation of anxiety-related and reward-related behaviours in animal models”. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 28 (2003): 171-181.
14. Sanchez-Roige S., et al. “The 23andMe Research Team, the Substance Use Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Adams MJ, et al. Genome-Wide Association Study Meta-Analysis of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in Two Population-Based Cohorts”. AJP 176 (2019): 107-118.
15. Waszkiewicz N., et al. “Glycoconjugates in the detection of alcohol abuse”. Biochemical Society Transactions 39 (2011): 365-369.
16. Hansell NK., et al. “Long-term stability and heritability of telephone interview measures of alcohol consumption and dependence”. Twin Research and Human Genetics: The Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies 11 (2008): 287-305.
17. Ramchandani VA., et al. “Research advances in ethanol metabolism”. Pathologie Biologie 49 (2001): 676-682.
18. Norberg A., et al. “Role of variability in explaining ethanol pharmacokinetics: research and forensic applications”. Clinical Pharmacokinetics 42 (2003): 1-31.
19. Nuutinen HU., et al. “Blood acetaldehyde concentration gradient between hepatic and antecubital venous blood in ethanol-intoxicated alcoholics and controls”. European Journal of Clinical Investigation 14 (1984): 306-311.
20. Jörnvall H and Höög JO. “Nomenclature of alcohol dehydrogenases”. Alcohol 30 (1995): 153-161.
21. Osier M., et al. “Linkage disequilibrium at the ADH2 and ADH3 loci and risk of alcoholism”. American Journal of Human Genetics 64 (1999): 1147-1157.
22. Eriksson CJ., et al. “Functional relevance of human ADH polymorphism”. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 25 (2001): 157S-63S.
23. Rungratanawanich W., et al. “Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and other adducts in aging-related diseases and alcohol-mediated tissue injury”. Experimental and Molecular Medicine 53 (2021): 168-188.
24. Frezza M., et al. “High blood alcohol levels in women. The role of decreased gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity and first pass metabolism”. The New England Journal of Medicine 322 (1990): 95-99.
25. Badger TM., et al. “Alcohol metabolism: role in toxicity and carcinogenesis”. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27 (2003): 336-347.
26. Kimura A., et al. “Sex differences in the polymorphism of ADL and ALDH”. Nihon Arukoru Yakubutsu Igakkai Zasshi 44 (2009): 686-689.
27. Ehlers CL., et al. “ADH and ALDH Polymorphisms and Alcohol Dependence in Mexican and Native Americans”. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 38 (2012): 389-394.
28. Ong H-H., et al. “Genetic polymorphisms of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes and their association with alcoholism risk, personality and anthropometric traits among Malaysian university students”. Psychology, Health and Medicine 23 (2018): 160-170.
29. Hu N., et al. “Contribution of ALDH2 polymorphism to alcoholism-associated hypertension”. Recent Patents on Endocrine, Metabolic and Immune Drug Discovery 8 (2014): 180-185.
30. Yoshida A., et al. “Human aldehyde dehydrogenase gene family”. The FEBS Journal 251 (1998): 549-57.
31. Agarwal DP. “Genetic polymorphisms of alcohol metabolizing enzymes”. Pathologie Biologie 49 (2001): 703-709.
32. Agrawal A and Bierut LJ. “Identifying genetic variation for alcohol dependence’. Alcohol Research 34 (2012): 274-281.
33. Zhang Y and Ren J. “ALDH2 in alcoholic heart diseases: Molecular mechanism and clinical implications”. Pharmacology and Therapeutics 132 (2011): 86-95.
34. Yang M., et al. “Haplotype Analysis of CYP2E1 Polymorphisms in Relation to Alcoholic Phenotypes in Mexican Americans”. Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research 31 (2007): 1991-2000.
35. Cheng J., et al. “CYP2E1-dependent elevation of serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and hepatic bile acids by isoniazid”. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 266 (2013): 245-253.
36. Cheng Z., et al. “Genome-wide Association Study Identifies a Regulatory Variant of RGMA Associated With Opioid Dependence in European Americans”. Biological Psychiatry 84 (2018): 762-770.
37. Zhang P., et al. “Demethyleneberberine, a natural mitochondria-targeted antioxidant, inhibits mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and steatosis in alcoholic liver disease mouse model”. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (2014): pii:jpet.114.219832.
38. Leung T-M and Nieto N. “CYP2E1 and oxidant stress in alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease”. Journal of Hepatology 58 (2013): 395-398.
39. Jing L., et al. “Chronic alcohol intake-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis: role of CYP2E1 and calpain-1 in alcoholic cardiomyopathy”. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 359 (2012): 283-292.
40. Hu Y., et al. “Structural and functional characterization of the 5’-flanking regions of the rat and human cytochrome P450 2E1 genes: identification of a polymorphic repeat in the human gene”. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 263 (1999): 286-293.
41. Wiśniewska A and Mazerska Z. “Cytochrome P450 isoenzymes in metabolism of endo- and exogenic compounds”. Postępy Biochemii3 (2009): 259-271.
42. Catanzaro I., et al. “Cytochrome P450 2E1 variable number tandem repeat polymorphisms and health risks: A genotype-phenotype study in cancers associated with drinking and/or smoking”. Molecular Medicine Reports 6 (2012): 416-420.
43. Gelernter J., et al. “Genome-wide Association Study of Maximum Habitual Alcohol Intake in >140,000 U.S. European and African American Veterans Yields Novel Risk Loci”. Biological Psychiatry 86 (2019): 365-376.
44. Kendler KS., et al. “The relationship between genetic influences on alcohol dependence and on patterns of alcohol consumption”. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 34 (2010): 1058-1065.
45. Wang LL., et al. “Identification of molecular targets associated with ethanol toxicity and implications in drug development”. Current Pharmaceutical Design 16 (2010): 1313-1355.
46. May PA., et al. “Prevalence and Characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders”. Pediatrics 134 (2014): 855-866.
47. Ferreira MP and Weems MK. “Alcohol consumption by ageing adults in the United States: health benefits and detriments”. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 108 (2008): 1668-1676.
48. Zhou H., et al. “Genome-wide meta-analysis of problematic alcohol use in 435,563 individuals yields insights into biology and relationships with other traits”. Nature Neuroscience 23 (2020): 809-818.
49. Mallard TT., et al. “Item-Level Genome-Wide Association Study of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in Three Population-Based Cohorts”. AJP 179 (2022): 58-70.
50. Babor TF., et al. “The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) manual: guidelines for use in primary care”. 2nd ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2001. Report No.: WHO/MSD/MSB/01.6a (2001): 4-32.
51. Grant JD., et al. “Alcohol consumption indices of genetic risk for alcohol dependence”. Biological Psychiatry 66 (2009): 795-800.

Citation

Citation: Marisol Silva-Vera., et al. “Genetic Influences on Alcoholism in Older Adults: A Marker-Based Approach”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 9.7 (2025): 95-102.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Marisol Silva-Vera., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.