Molecular Genetic Bases for Quit Success

National Institute On Drug Abuse

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

During this year, we published genome wide association for smoking cessation success in data from an additional clinical trial, with AUROC for a predictive smoking quit success score of 0.64. Smoking quit success genes identified in this fashion include genes that we have identified in studies of addiction vulnerability. A sizable number of these genes have products that are involved in cell adhesion molecule actions. Several are likely to be involved in learning and memory mechanisms. Several are implicated in individual differences in regional brain volumes. During this year, we published work that links, for the first time, individual differences in abilities to quit smoking with individual differences in uptake of use of addictive substances, including cigarettes. During this year, we have also followed up on data that identified nominally-significant associations between TRPA1 haplotypes and success in smoking cessation in European Americans. The modest numbers of African American individuals who prefer non mentholated cigarettes disproportionately display TRPA1 alleles that are likely to derive from individuals with European ancestries, at least in 5' aspects of the gene. Chromosomes with apparent recombination at this locus are also identified among African-American smokers who prefer nonmentholated cigarettes.