Protective effects of the alcohol dehydrogenase-ADH1B*3 allele on attention and behavior problems in adolescents exposed to alcohol during pregnancy

• Fetal alcohol exposure related to attention and behavior problems in adolescents.
• Maternal ADH1B*3 allele protects against fetal alcohol teenage behavior problems.
• Protective effects of ADH1B*3 allele not due to less maternal alcohol consumption
• First study to show protective effects of maternal ADH1B*3 allele in adolescence

Alcohol dehydrogenase is a critical enzyme in the metabolism of alcohol. Expression of three alleles at the ADH1B locus results in enzymes that differ in turnover rate and affinity for alcohol. The ADH1B*3 allele, which appears to be unique to individuals of African descent, is associated with more rapid alcohol metabolism than the more prevalent ADH1B*1 allele. It has been previously demonstrated that the presence of at least one maternal ADH1B*3 allele confers a protective effect against alcohol teratogenicity in infants and children. This study was conducted to determine whether the presence of the ADH1B*3 allele in the mother or child continues to be protective in alcohol-exposed individuals during adolescence. 186 adolescents and 167 mothers participating in a 14-year follow-up of the Detroit Longitudinal Cohort were genotyped for ADH1B alleles. Behavioral reports were obtained from classroom teachers. Frequencies of the ADH1B*3 allele were 17.6% in the mothers and 21.0% in the adolescents, which are consistent with the 15–20% expected for African Americans. Prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with increased attention problems and externalizing behaviors in adolescents born to mothers with two ADH1B*1 alleles but not in those whose mothers had at least one ADH1B*3 allele. A similar pattern was seen in relation to the presence or absence of an ADH1B*3 allele in the adolescent, which may have reflected the presence/absence of the maternal variant. This study is the first to demonstrate that the protective effects of the maternal ADH1B*3 allele continue to be evident during adolescence. These persistent individual differences in vulnerability of offspring to the behavioral effects of fetal alcohol exposure are likely attributable to more rapid metabolism of alcohol that the ADH1B*3 variant confers on the mother, leading to a reduction of the peak blood alcohol concentration to which the fetus is exposed during each drinking episode.