Alcohol and ADH2 in Israel: Ashkenazis, Sephardics, and recent Russian immigrants

Objective: Jews drink less than other Caucasians and have a higher prevalence of ADH2*2, an allele of an alcohol dehydrogenase gene that protects against heavy drinking. The relationship of ADH2 polymorphisms to lifetime maximum number of drinks per occasion was investigated in recent Russian immi- grants to Israel (exposed to heavier drinking in their country of origin), other Israeli Ashkenazis, and Sephardics. Method: Seventy-five randomly sampled Israelis participated in a structured interview. ADH2 was genotyped for 68 subjects. Results: ADH2*2 predicted less drinking; however, associations between ADH2 and drinking appeared to differ across the groups, consistent with differences in environmental exposure to heavy drinking. Conclusions: The findings support a protective effect for ADH2*2 against heavy drinking in Jewish samples but also suggest the importance of environment. Future work should investigate interactions between genes and the environment in larger samples.