DNA DIAGNOSIS OF LEVEL OF GENETIC RISK OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AS PART OF GENETIC COUNSELING: BASIC PRINCIPLES AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PILOT PROJECT
Among the general population, there is a category of people with an innate predisposition to substance abuse - the group of high individual genetic risk of the disease. The identification of such persons, including the use of methods of molecular genetic diagnosis, can significantly reduce the incidence of drug abuse and alcoholism. The Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of NRCA had created and developed the concept of the genetic profile of substance abuse, as a set of polymorphic genetic markers of dopamine neurotransmitter system, specific for desease. The study of the individual genetic profile as a result of genotyping carried out as molecular diagnosis in the genetic counseling can help to evaluate the individual level of genetic risk for the disease. The preliminary results of the pilot project for genotyping and analysis of genetic profiles of inpatients with alcoholism and heroin dependence in NRCA showed that genetic profile, that we have built based on the theoretical assumptions, proved an effective tool of molecular genetic diagnosis of the level of genetic risk of substance abuse.