Initial Study on COMT and DRD2 Gene Polymorphisms as Well as the Influence of Temperament and Character Trait on the Severity of Alcohol Craving in Alcohol-Dependent Patients

Damian Czarnecki; Marcin Ziółkowski; Jan Chodkiewicz; Anna Długosz; Joanna Feldheim; Napoleon Waszkiewicz; Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda; Marta Gorzkiewicz; Jacek Budzyński; Anna Junkiert-Czarnecka; Agnieszka Siomek-Górecka; Krzysztof Nicpoń; Aleksandra Kawala-Sterniuk; Raffaele Ferri; Mariusz Pelc; Piotr Walecki; Ewa Laskowska; Edward Jacek Gorzelańczyk

doi:10.3390/jcm10245892

Initial Study on COMT and DRD2 Gene Polymorphisms as Well as the Influence of Temperament and Character Trait on the Severity of Alcohol Craving in Alcohol-Dependent Patients

J Clin Med. 2021 Dec 15;10(24):5892. doi: 10.3390/jcm10245892.

Authors

Damian Czarnecki¹, Marcin Ziółkowski¹, Jan Chodkiewicz², Anna Długosz³, Joanna Feldheim³, Napoleon Waszkiewicz⁴, Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda⁴, Marta Gorzkiewicz⁵, Jacek Budzyński⁶, Anna Junkiert-Czarnecka⁷, Agnieszka Siomek-Górecka⁸, Krzysztof Nicpoń¹, Aleksandra Kawala-Sterniuk⁹, Raffaele Ferri¹⁰, Mariusz Pelc^{9

11}, Piotr Walecki¹², Ewa Laskowska¹³, Edward Jacek Gorzelańczyk^{14

15

16

17}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventive Nursing, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, ul. Ignacego Łukasiewicza 1, 85-821 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
² Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology, University of Lodz, ul. Smugowa 10/12, 91-433 Łódź, Poland.
³ Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, University of Science and Technology, ul. Seminaryjna 3, 85-326 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Białystok, pl. Brodowicza 1, 16-070 Choroszcz, Poland.
⁵ Department of Molecular Genetics and Justice, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, ul. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
⁶ Department of Vascular and Internal Diseases, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, ul. Ujejskiego 75, 85-168 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
⁷ Department of Clinical Genetics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, ul. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
⁸ Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, ul. Karłowicza 24, 85-092 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
⁹ Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatic Control and Informatics, Opole University of Technology, ul. Prószkowska 76, 45-758 Opole, Poland.
¹⁰ Oasi Research Institute IRCCS, Via C. Ruggero, 73, 94018 Troina, Italy.
¹¹ School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK.
¹² Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, ul. Medyczna 7, 30-688 Krakow, Poland.
¹³ Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, ul. Jagiellońska 15, 85-067 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
¹⁴ Department of Theoretical Basis of BioMedical Sciences and Medical Informatics, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Jagiellońska 15, 85-067 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
¹⁵ Institute of Philosophy, Kazimierz Wielki University, ul. Ogińskiego 16, 85-092 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
¹⁶ Babinski Specialist Psychiatric Healthcare Center, Outpatient Addiction Treatment, ul. Aleksandrowska 159, 91-229 Łódź, Poland.
¹⁷ The Society for the Substitution Treatment of Addiction "Medically Assisted Recovery", ul. Rzeźniackiego 1D, 85-791 Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Abstract

The main aim of this work was to determine the impact of COMT and DRD2 gene polymorphisms together with temperament and character traits on alcohol craving severity alcohol-dependent persons. The sample comprised of 89 men and 16 women (aged 38±7). For the sake of psychological assessment various analytic methods have been applied like the Short Alcohol Dependence Data Questionnaire (SADD), Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) or Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) test. The SNP polymorphism of the analyzed genes was determined by Real Time PCR test. The results showed, that the COMT polymorphismmay have an indirected relationship with the intensity and changes in alcohol craving during abstinence. The DRD2 receptor gene polymorphisms are related with the intensity of alcohol craving. It seems that the character traits like "self-targeting", including "self-acceptance", are more closely related to the severity of alcohol craving and polymorphic changes in the DRD2 receptor than temperamental traits. Although this is a pilot study the obtained results appeared to be promising and clearly indicate the link betweengene polymorphisms alcohol craving and its severity.

Keywords: alcohol craving; cortico-subcortical loops; dependency; genetics; neurophilosphy; polymorphisms.

Grants and funding

74/44/3.4.3/18/DEA/National Health Program: "Supporting research in the area of risk factors and factors protecting against problems resulting from alcohol consumption"