Table 1.

Five genetic polymorphisms analyzed in the project

Gene	Description	Polymorphism	Association with alcohol-related & other behaviors	Selected References
5HTT (17q11.1–12)	Member of the 6 serotonin transporter family; limit level and duration of serotonin receptor activation	44 bp VNTR in 5’ regulatory region	Association with alcohol use	Herman et al. (2003); Munafό et al. (2005)
DAT1 (5p15.3)	Mediates uptake of dopamine into neurons; site of action of methylphenidate	3’UTR 40bp VNTR	Association with alcohol use	Sander et al. 1997; Schmidt et al. 1998
DRD4 (11p15.5)	Member of the D2 receptor family; inhibits adenylate cyclase, decreases C-AMP and is inhibitory	Exon 3 48-bp VNTR	Association with ADHD & substance abuse	Grady et al. (2003); Paterson et al. (1999)
DRD2 (11q23)	Inhibits adenylyl cyclase, thereby down-regulating cAMP	3’ TaqIA	Association with alcohol use	Noble 2003; Hopfer et al. 2005
MAOA-uVNTR (Xp11.3–11.4)	Responsible for degradation of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine	30 bp VNTR in 5’ regulatory region	Association with alcohol use	Herman et al. 2005; Parsian et al. 2003