Aims: In an attempt to explain differences in susceptibility to alcoholism and alcohol liver disease (ALD), different genes have been analysed, among them those encoding inflammatory cytokines. Thus, it has been reported recently that both the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN) and the IL1beta (IL1B) genes may influence the risk of ALD in Japanese alcoholics. We analysed the distribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the IL1A, IL1B, IL1R1 and IL1RN genes in alcoholic and non-alcoholic Spanish subjects.
Methods: DNA samples were obtained from 139 male alcoholics, 78 of whom were diagnosed as alcohol dependent (32 patients with liver cirrhosis and 46 without ALD) and 61 as alcohol abusers (25 with liver cirrhosis and 36 without ALD). As a control, we studied 81 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers.
Results: Alleles -511 IL1B*1 and IL1RN*1 were represented more in alcoholic patients than in the control group. We did not find any association of alcoholism or ALD with polymorphisms in the IL1A and IL1R1 genes.
Conclusions: We conclude that the proteins encoded by the IL1RN and IL1B genes may be involved in susceptibility to alcoholism in Spanish men, probably through a different pathway from that involved in the regulation of the inflammatory response.