Pharmacogenetic aspects of addictive behaviors

Addictions are illnesses of complex causation, including inheritance and a role for gene/environment interactions. Functional alleles influencing pharmacodynamic (tissue response) and pharmacokinetic (absorption, distribution, and metabolism) play a role, but these interact with diverse environmental factors including early life stress, underage drug exposure, availability of addictive agents, and response to clinical interventions including pharmacotherapies. Identification of genetic factors in addiction thus plays an important role in the understanding of processes of addiction and origins of differential vulnerabilities and treatment responses.