Huge Study Links a Specific Gene to Appetite for Alcohol
reviewing Schumann G et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016 Dec 13.
A neuroendocrine loop might be responsible for drinking behavior.
Gene variants have been linked to the degree of appetite for alcohol. In a new study, multi-institutional investigators used genetic data and information about drinking history from more than 105,000 people of European ancestry to identify a new gene and a particular neuroendocrine axis as contributors to alcohol appetite.
In a human study, researchers found that the gene (KLB) that produces the protein β-Klotho is associated with alcohol intake. An intact KLB gene protects against excessive alcohol intake, but when the gene is knocked out in brains of mice, the mice have an increased appetite for alcohol. We know that β-Klotho forms part of a brain receptor for a hormone made by the liver, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21. Alcohol induces the liver to make FGF21, and higher blood levels of FGF21 diminish the appetite for alcohol in normal mice ― but not in mice in which the KLB gene has been knocked out. Presumably, the absence of β-Klotho in the brains of KLB knockout mice disrupts a neuroendocrine loop that is important in controlling appetite for alcohol.
COMMENT
Both the KLB gene and the newly discovered neuroendocrine circuit linking the brain and liver are important in regulating appetite for alcohol in mice, and KLB is linked strongly to alcohol intake in humans. This discovery might lead to identification of people at risk for alcohol abuse and to medications that help control the appetite for alcohol.
reviewing Schumann G et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016 Dec 13.
A neuroendocrine loop might be responsible for drinking behavior.
Gene variants have been linked to the degree of appetite for alcohol. In a new study, multi-institutional investigators used genetic data and information about drinking history from more than 105,000 people of European ancestry to identify a new gene and a particular neuroendocrine axis as contributors to alcohol appetite.
In a human study, researchers found that the gene (KLB) that produces the protein β-Klotho is associated with alcohol intake. An intact KLB gene protects against excessive alcohol intake, but when the gene is knocked out in brains of mice, the mice have an increased appetite for alcohol. We know that β-Klotho forms part of a brain receptor for a hormone made by the liver, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21. Alcohol induces the liver to make FGF21, and higher blood levels of FGF21 diminish the appetite for alcohol in normal mice ― but not in mice in which the KLB gene has been knocked out. Presumably, the absence of β-Klotho in the brains of KLB knockout mice disrupts a neuroendocrine loop that is important in controlling appetite for alcohol.
COMMENT
Both the KLB gene and the newly discovered neuroendocrine circuit linking the brain and liver are important in regulating appetite for alcohol in mice, and KLB is linked strongly to alcohol intake in humans. This discovery might lead to identification of people at risk for alcohol abuse and to medications that help control the appetite for alcohol.
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