The genetic epidemiology of smoking

作者：Patrick Sullivan, Kenneth S. Kendler · 发表于：Nicotine & Tobacco Research · 年份：1999 · DOI：10.1080/14622299050011811 · 被引用次数：466 · 研究领域：Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study、Smoking Behavior and Cessation、Influenza Virus Research Studies

The enormous personal and societal costs associated with tobacco are well documented. Unlike the large literature on the prevalence and consequences of tobacco use, there are fewer data on the genetic epidemiology (family, adoption, and twin studies) of tobacco use initiation and nicotine dependence. This review is limited to smoking as this has been the overwhelming focus of the literature. The data from family, adoption, and twin studies strongly support a substantial genetic influence on the initiation and maintenance of smoking. The literature supports the following hypothesis of the development of nicotine dependence. Smoking initiation is the obligatory first step. Liability to initiating smoking results from genetic influences (approximately 60%) and from environmental influences shared by members of a twin pair (approximately 20%) and that are specific to an individual (approximately 20%). The impact of shared environment may be particularly pronounced in mid-adolescence when many begin smoking. A subset of those who initiate smoking progress to nicotine dependence: genetic factors appear to be more prominent in this transition (approximately 70%) and shared environmental influences appear to be negligible. The genetic factors that predispose to smoking initiation appear to overlap substantially but not completely with those for nicotine dependence. The substantial impact of genetic factors on smoking behavior has engendered molecular genetic studies of this complex t...