A new paper published in Translational Psychiatry by Michal Graczyk, Barbara Sahakian, Trevor Robbins and Karen Ersche identified noradrenaline transporter gene polymorphism which interacts with cocaine use disorder diagnosis, impairing patient’s self-control.

Cocaine use is a growing public health concern, with estimated 20 million users worldwide.  However, not everyone who uses cocaine develops cocaine addiction, suggesting that the drug interacts with a person’s vulnerability profile. A family history of addiction has been shown to increase the likelihood of developing addiction by eightfold, which points towards a genetic predisposition.

Although familial risk studies suggest significant addiction heritability, the genetic basis of vulnerability to drug addiction remains largely unknown.

A new study investigates the relationship between self-control, cocaine use, and the rs36024 single nucleotide polymorphism of the noradrenaline transporter gene (SLC6A2).

 

Read the article published in Translational Psychiatry here>> 

Graczyk, M.M., Sahakian, B.J., Robbins, T.W. et al. Genotype-by-diagnosis interaction influences self-control in human cocaine addiction. Transl Psychiatry 13, 51 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02347-z