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UW-CTRI and Utah Researchers Crack “Kid-Smoking” Genetic Code
Breakthrough Shows No Daily Smoking Before Age 17 Means Less Likely to Get Hooked
PODCAST: Dr. Tim Baker Speaks About This Study
Based on multiple genetic studies, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and their colleagues at the University of Utah have found that if youth don’t begin daily smoking before age 17 they are dramatically less likely to ever become severely addicted to nicotine. The findings were published in the July 11, 2008 issue of the Public Library of Science Genetics journal.
“This finding suggests we can protect our younger generations from some of the massive risks associated with tobacco dependence if we can prevent them from daily smoking before the age of 17,” said Tim Baker, Ph.D. and lead researcher at the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI).
“We were able to replicate our findings using three separate data sets. We have found that most people are genetically coded in one of three ways. There is one genetic risk factor for nicotine dependence, one for protecting against addiction and one that is neutral. The genetic risk for nicotine dependence posed by these factors is neutralized if the young person doesn’t smoke daily by age 17,” Baker said. “If young people smoke daily before age 17, the genetic risk becomes active. So the risk for severe dependence is produced by the combination of the genetic risk and smoking early in life.”
Researchers looked at 398 Wisconsin participants who came to UW-CTRI study clinics in Milwaukee and Madison. Participants agreed to blood sampling and responded to detailed questionnaires. |
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“We can protect our younger generations from some of the massive risks associated with tobacco dependence if we can prevent them from daily smoking before the age of 17.”
--Tim Baker, Ph.D.
PODCAST: Dr. Tim Baker Speaks About This Study
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An additional 2,429 participants from Utah and from an extensive national study rounded out the sample.
The findings involve several SNP’s – single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or “snips” for short. A SNP is a place where genomes routinely differ from one another by a single genetic variation. In this instance, researchers found five snips that “go together,” forming a structure. Prior to these findings, no one has characterized the structure and the structure’s relationship to nicotine dependence.
“The SNPs are important. If someone is exposed to nicotine in more formative years there is a change in their brain structure and function,” said Megan Piper, Ph.D, another UW-CTRI researcher involved in this transdisciplinary federal study.
Baker said, “This research emphasizes the importance of prevention programs, and specifically prevention programs aimed at youth who are genetically at risk for nicotine dependence.”
According to Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “In recent years we’ve seen an explosion in the understanding of how small genetic variations can impact all aspects of health, including addiction. As we learn more about how both genes and environment play a role in smoking, we will be able to better tailor both prevention and cessation programs to individuals.”
The NIDA-funded 2007 Monitoring the Future Study showed that 7 percent of 8th graders, 14 percent of 10th graders, and nearly 22 percent of 12th graders had used cigarettes at least once in the month prior to being surveyed. Although cigarette use has declined slightly in youth in recent years, more than 3 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17, or 13 percent of those in the United States, still smoke cigarettes.
Each day, 8,200 Wisconsin kids under the age of 18 will become new daily smokers. In Wisconsin, 19.9 percent of high school students and 5.8 percent of middle school students are tobacco users.
This genetics study was funded in part by NIDA and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and parts of the National Institutes of Health.
Read more in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
News Release: Wisconsin and Utah Researchers Crack “Kid-Smoking” Genetic Code
PODCAST: Dr. Tim Baker Speaks About This Study |
