Gender-Stratified Gene and Gene-Treatment Interactions in Smoking Cessation

Citation

Lee, W., Bergen, A., Swan, G. et al. Gender-stratified gene and gene–treatment interactions in smoking cessation. Pharmacogenomics J 12, 521–532 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/tpj.2011.30

Abstract

We conducted gender-stratified analyses on a systems-based candidate gene study of 53 regions involved in nicotinic response and the brain—reward pathway in two randomized clinical trials of smoking cessation treatments (placebo, bupropion, transdermal and nasal spray nicotine replacement therapy). We adjusted P-values for multiple correlated tests, and used a Bonferroni-corrected α-level of 5 × 10−4 to determine system-wide significance. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs12021667, rs12027267, rs6702335, rs12039988; r2>0.98) in erythrocyte membrane protein band 4.1 (EPB41) had a significant male-specific marginal association with smoking abstinence (odds ratio (OR)=0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.3–0.6) at end of treatment (adjusted P<6 × 10−5). rs806365 in cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) had a significant male-specific gene–treatment interaction at 6-month follow-up (adjusted P=3.9 × 10−5); within males using nasal spray, rs806365 was associated with a decrease in odds of abstinence (OR=0.04; 95% CI: 0.01–0.2). While the role of CNR1 in substance abuse has been well studied, we report EPB41 for the first time in the nicotine literature.


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