A genetic marker of risk in HIV-infected individuals with a history of hazardous drinking

ABSTRACT

Impulsivity and sensation seeking have been linked to hazardous drinking, increased sexual risk behaviors, and lower treatment adherence among persons living with HIV (PLH). The dopamine active transporter1 (DAT1or SLC6A3) gene has been linked to impulsivity and sensation seeking in several populations but has not been investigated among populations of PLH. This study used data from 201 PLH who report a recent history of heavy episodic drinking. Results indicate that DAT1*10R vs DAT1*9R genotype was related to higher propensity for risk taking (standardized difference score (d) = 0.30 [95% CI: 0.02;0.59]), more hazardous drinking (d = 0.35 [0.05;0.64]), and more condomless sex (rate ratio (RR)= 2.35[1.94; 2.85]), but were counter-intuitively associated with fewer sexual partners (RR = 0.65[0.43;0.91]) and possibly better treatment adherence (d = 0.32 [−0.01;0.65]). Results are consistent with the suggested associations between DAT1 and risk-taking behavior. The counter-intuitive finding for partner selection and treatment adherence may be evidence of additional factors that place PLH at risk for engaging in hazardous drinking as well as relationship difficulties and problems with treatment adherence (e.g., depressive symptoms, avoidant coping, trauma history). Caution is required when using a single gene variant as a marker of complex behaviors and these findings need to be replicated using larger samples and additional variants.

KEYWORDS:

• Hazardous drinking
• medication adherence
• sexual risk behaviors
• SLC6A3
• Dopamine Active Transporter (DAT1)

Acknowledgements

Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, or the Department of Veteran Affairs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a 2008 developmental grant awarded to John McGeary from the Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research [grant number P30AI042853; PI: C. Carpenter] from the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases. The project was also supported by shared equipment grants from the National Center for Research Resources [grant number S10RR023457] and US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) shared equipment program to John McGeary. Dr. Barker’s time was supported by K23MH102131. Dr. Nugent was supported by [grant number R01MH105379], [grant number R01MH108641], and [grant number K01MH087240].