Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on January 18, 2008
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2008 43(2):127-136; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agm155
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Cytogenetic effects of ethanol on chronic alcohol users
temirDepartment of Medical Biology and Genetics, Medical Faculty, Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Medical Faculty, Çukurova University, 01330, Balcali, Adana, Turkey. Tel: (+90) 322 3387140; Fax: (+90) 322 3386572; E-mail: osdemir{at}cu.edu.tr
Received 23 June 2007; first review notified 20 August 2007; in revised form 5 September 2007; accepted 11 September 2007
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Abstract |
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Aim: Alcoholism is a significant public health problem that is also associated with a complex genetic trait. Fragile sites (FS) are potentially informative endpoints for the study of clinical disorders. We aimed to find chromosomal damages in chronic alcohol users for the purpose of finding the correlation between alcohol and chromosomal anomalies. Methods: The potential roles/effects of ethanol on chromosome(s) were assessed in this study by investigating its cytotoxic effects in lymphocyte cultures from chronic alcoholics and controls. Results: Alcoholics revealed a significantly higher frequency of FS and chromosomal aberrations (CA), and the FS clusters in specific chromosomal regions: 1q12, 1q21, 1q32, 2p13, 2q21, 2q31, 3p14, 3p25, 3q21, 4q21, 4q31, 5q31, 6p21, 7q22, 7q32, 9q13, 9q22, 10q22, 11q23, and 12q13. We also observed a significantly greater number of numerical and structural CA in alcoholics. The most frequent exchange types were deletions and polymorphic variations. CA could be due to the cumulative effect of both alcohol and smoking. The loci 1q12, 3p25, 4q31, 6p21, and 12q13 were not reported previously in alcoholics and may be hot spots for alcoholism. The overall FS frequencies were not statistically different between smoker and non-smoker controls, but smoking significantly increased the expression of 1p36, 3q21, and 5p15 sites. These sites have important clinical significance. Conclusions: Chronic alcohol abuse and the smoking habit can lead to chromosome damages that are especially influential on oncogenic regions, which may persist for a long time, and constitute a relevant factor of risk for the development of neoplasias.