Daijiworld Meida Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Dec 26: Addiction may not be solely driven by personal choice or social circumstances, as a new study by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has identified a stress-related genetic variation that could significantly increase the risk of opioid addiction among Indians.
The study suggests that biological vulnerability plays a crucial role in opioid dependence. Opioids, which include heroin, morphine, opium-based substances, codeine, and certain prescription painkillers and cough syrups, are widely misused in India and are highly addictive. The concern is particularly serious as India carries a heavy burden of opioid use, largely driven by heroin consumption. According to the 2019 report Magnitude of Substance Use in India by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, opioid use rates in the country are three times the global average.
Researchers assessed participants for substance-use behaviour and analysed genetic variations linked to the brain’s stress-response system, focusing on the galanin pathway, which is known to influence mood, anxiety and reward-related behaviour.
The study, conducted by Dr Atul Ambekar and Dr Ramandeep from the Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS New Delhi, along with Rizwana Quraishi and Ram Kumar from the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, analysed 170 male participants. Of these, 85 were diagnosed with opioid dependence, while the remaining 85 served as healthy controls.
The findings revealed that a specific genetic variant, GALR1 rs9807208, was significantly more prevalent among individuals with opioid dependence. Those suffering from addiction showed more than twice the prevalence of this genetic variant compared to those without dependence, indicating a possible inherited susceptibility to opioid addiction.
The researchers noted that the results highlight the importance of understanding genetic and biological factors in addiction, which could help in developing more targeted prevention and treatment strategies in the future.