Genetic markers in alcoholic liver disease

EDITOR, - D I N Sherman and colleagues suggest that variation in the alcohol dehydrogenase 2 gene may contribute to alcoholic liver disease.1 Their study, however, has several shortcomings and their conclusions may be unjustified. The initial hypothesis is unclear. The authors confuse genetic susceptibility to misuse of alcohol and genetic susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease; it is unlikely that the same genes contribute to these different disorders. …