Association Between GABRG2 and Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol in a French Young Adult Sample

Jenny Skumsnes Moe; Jørgen G Bramness; Ingeborg Bolstad; Jørg Gustav Mørland; Philip Gorwood; Nicolas Ramoz

doi:10.2147/RMHP.S483830

Association Between GABRG2 and Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol in a French Young Adult Sample

Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2025 Jan 24:18:291-304. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S483830. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Jenny Skumsnes Moe^{1

2}, Jørgen G Bramness^{1

2

3

4}, Ingeborg Bolstad^{1

5}, Jørg Gustav Mørland^{3

6}, Philip Gorwood^{7

8}, Nicolas Ramoz^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Substance Use Disorders and Mental Illness, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway.
² Institute for Clinical Medicine, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
³ Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Health and Social Science, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway.
⁶ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Université Paris Cité, Inserm U1266, Institut de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences de Paris (IPNP), Team Vulnerability of Psychiatric and Addictive Disorders, Paris, France.
⁸ GHU PARIS Psychiatrie & Neurosciences, Hôpital Sainte-Anne, CMME, Paris, France.

Abstract

Purpose: Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for preventable death, injury, and disease globally. Low sensitivity to the effects of alcohol is influenced by genes and predicts risk for harmful alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Alcohol induces effects partly by modulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors type A (GABA_ARs). This study investigates the relationship between genetic variation in GABA_AR subunit genes and individual alcohol sensitivity among French university students.

Patients and methods: The study involved 1,409 French university students (34.5% women; mean age 20.3 years). Alcohol sensitivity was measured by the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol Scale (SRE). SRE-scores from initial drinking, regular drinking, and heavy drinking were investigated for correlations with alcohol consumption and for associations with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GABA_AR subunit genes (GABRA2, GABRG2, GABRA6).

Results: We replicated correlations between low alcohol sensitivity and high alcohol consumption. We further found an association between the minor allele in rs211014 (GABRG2) and higher SRE-scores, linked to dizziness and motor incoordination. Genetic variation in GABRG2 has previously been associated with processes involving motor coordination (alcohol withdrawal, febrile- and epileptic seizures).

Conclusion: The results from our study suggest that genetic variation in GABRG2 may influence alcohol sensitivity, which could inform strategies for assessing risk for harmful alcohol use and AUD.

Keywords: AUD; AUDIT; GABRG2; alcohol use; genetic; self-rating of the effects of alcohol.

Grants and funding

The original study received grants from Institut de Recherche sur l’Etude des Boissons (IREB) and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) (Appel à projet cohortes santé TGIR). The work of JSM was supported by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority [1) grant number 2018040, awarded to the Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Concurrent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorder, Hospital Innlandet Trust, and 2) mobility grant, awarded to JSM]. The publication charges for this article have been funded by a grant from the publication fund of UiT The Arctic University of Norway.