Genotyping of Opioid Receptor Mu 1 (OPRM1) A118G Polymorphism in Indonesian Drug Addicts

Abstract

Opioid receptor mu-1 (OPRM1) A118G gene polymorphism has been widely studied as a strong candidate gene for increasing risk of drug addiction. However, the association is still controversial concerning the effect of A118G polymorphisms on drug addiction seems to be different inter-ethnic. The prevalence of OPRM1 A118G polymorphism is found to be low in the European American population but high in the Asian population. To date, there are very limited reports on this polymorphism in the Indonesian population and its association with drug addiction. Here, we carry out the genotyping of OPRM1 A118G polymorphism in Indonesian population using amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) method. The result shows that the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism is relatively higher compared with other Asian countries. When comparing the frequency of the genotype and allele between the normal (n = 83) and the drug-addicted (n = 83) subjects, no significant difference in prevalence was found in neither genotype (p = 0.066, 95% CI [confidence interval]) nor allele (p = 0.432; 95% CI) between the groups. Our results suggest that there is no direct effect of OPRM1 A118G gene polymorphism on the risk of drug addiction (including stimulants, marijuana, and benzodiazepine) among Indonesian; instead, social factors might play a key role.