Genetic Polymorphisms in GABRD and Treatment Response and Dose in Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Abstract

Xie and colleagues studied the association between the genetic polymorphs of the GABA receptor delta subunit (GABARD) and dose-response to methadone in heroin addicts subjected to methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) was studied. They investigated two groups: responders and non-responders were created from a total of 286 recruited MMT patients where the parameter for classification was retention time in therapy. According to stabilized methadone dose, 177 patients were divided into subgroups of high dose and low dose. TaqMan SNP assay was used for GABRD genotyping and the following single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified rs2376805 rs13303344, rs2229110, and rs4481796. MMT treatment response and dose showed no significant association with the SNPs whereas the ACGC haplotype for the 4 SNPs varied slightly between the non-responder and responder groups. They concluded that genetic polymorphs of the GABARD do not play a major role in effecting treatment response to methadone Per Med. 2021 Sep;18(5):423-430.