Polymorphism of aldehyde dehydrogenase and its application to alcoholism

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) consists of four different isozymes (I, II, III, IV). Among these, ALDH I shows genetic polymorphism (normal and deficient) in a population of Mongoloid origin. The significantly lower frequency of ALDH I deficiency was found in alcoholic patients compared with healthy controls. ALDH I deficiency is one of the important genetic factors in regulating alcohol consumption and plays a protective role against alcoholism. Population genetic studies on ALDH I deficiency in different ethnic groups indicate that ALDH deficiency was found only in Mongoloid population groups.