One of the few places where a single variant is visible in the mirror.
Why this topic Drinking less is now a stated identity, not just a decision.
2026-01-28 · Namba S, et al., Nature 2026, PMID:41606330
A cross-population compendium of gene-environment interactions
An atlas of where a variant's effect changes with age, sex or lifestyle, from 440,210 people of European and Japanese ancestry, replicated in 539,794 more. The variant that dominates this site's overlap with it is rs671 in ALDH2, the alcohol flush variant: its effects on liver enzymes (AST, ALT), HDL cholesterol and red-cell indices differ by sex, by ever-drinking and by smoking.
2025-10-20 · Zhang et al., Circulation 2025, PMID:41111418
'Asian Flush' Gene Variant Linked to Worse Heart Damage After a Heart Attack
A CityU Hong Kong team studied 177 Chinese patients with acute heart failure following a heart attack: carriers of the ALDH2 mutation behind the "Asian flush" alcohol reaction showed significantly more severe cardiac dysfunction, through a mechanism where the mutated ALDH2 protein loses its normal interaction with eIF3E, letting a cell-death process called ferroptosis run unchecked in heart muscle cells. An early-stage mechanistic finding, not an available treatment or diagnostic test -- see this site's rs671 page for the variant itself.
Solid lines are connections this site curates. Dashed lines mean the two ends share a research paper — worth knowing, and not a claim that one explains the other.
Counted in Europe PMC, where the title or abstract names both this topic and that rsID. The number is papers, not evidence of a cause.
ADH1B
Alcohol metabolism speed
100 papers →ALDH2
Alcohol flush reaction
99 papers →OPRM1
Opioid receptor sensitivity
36 papers →BDNF
Smoking behavior
29 papers →MTHFR
Folate metabolism (MTHFR C677T)
17 papers →FTO
Menarche (age at onset)
8 papers →MTHFR
Folate metabolism (MTHFR A1298C)
6 papers →C12orf51
Renal function-related traits (BUN)
6 papers →APOA5
Triglyceride levels
6 papers →AGR3
Urinary albumin excretion
5 papers →AUTS2
Alcohol consumption
5 papers →GCKR
Uric acid levels
5 papers →TAS2R38
Bitter taste perception (TAS2R38 position 296)
4 papers →TAS2R38
Bitter taste perception (TAS2R38 position 262)
4 papers →LSP1
Breast cancer
4 papers →CYP2C19
CYP2C19 *2 — clopidogrel activation
4 papers →TAS2R38
Bitter taste perception (PTC/PROP tasting)
4 papers →FTO
Obesity
3 papers →HFE
Iron overload risk (hereditary hemochromatosis)
3 papers →ZDHHC11
Pancreatic cancer
3 papers →BDNP
Menarche (age at onset)
3 papers →PITX2
Atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter
2 papers →NCAN
LDL cholesterol
2 papers →BDNF
Body mass index
2 papers →MYL2
Alcohol consumption
2 papers →near POU5F1B
Prostate cancer
2 papers →HFE
Iron overload risk (HFE H63D)
2 papers →TGFB1
Colorectal cancer
2 papers →ESR1
Breast cancer
2 papers →GC
Vitamin D levels
2 papers →LPL
Metabolic syndrome
2 papers →IDOL
LDL cholesterol
2 papers →CETP
HDL cholesterol
2 papers →APOE
Lewy body disease
2 papers →SH2B3
Vitiligo
2 papers →F5
Blood clotting risk (Factor V Leiden)
2 papers →CHRNA5
Lung cancer
2 papers →APOB
Triglycerides
1 paper →CHRNA3
Smoking behavior
1 paper →LAMC1
Colorectal cancer
1 paper →near MRPS30
Breast cancer
1 paper →ANK3
Bipolar disorder
1 paper →NT5C2
Systolic blood pressure
1 paper →IL23R
Crohn's disease
1 paper →LDLR
Myocardial infarction (early onset)
1 paper →TPMT
TPMT *3C — thiopurine tolerance
1 paper →SLC2A9
Urate levels
1 paper →NABP1
Colorectal cancer
1 paper →TERC
Telomere length
1 paper →MC4R
Waist circumference and related phenotypes
1 paper →ATP2B1
Blood pressure
1 paper →UBE4B
Hepatocellular carcinoma
1 paper →FADS1
Metabolite levels
1 paper →CXCL12
Myocardial infarction (early onset)
1 paper →BMP4
Primary tooth development (time to first tooth eruption)
1 paper →HLA-DQA2
Crohn's disease
1 paper →GIPR
Obesity
1 paper →GPNMB
Parkinson's disease
1 paper →AGER
Pulmonary function
1 paper →near SI
Alcohol dependence (age at onset)
1 paper →ECHDC1
Breast cancer
1 paper →KCNQ1
Type 2 diabetes
1 paper →ATG16L1
Crohn's disease
1 paper →PLCE1
Esophageal cancer
1 paper →PSCA
Bladder cancer
1 paper →PLCB1
Colorectal cancer
1 paper →LEF1
Metabolic traits
1 paper →ATP2B1
Hypertension
1 paper →FTH1
Plasma omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels (linoleic acid)
1 paper →TERT
Lung adenocarcinoma
1 paper →HLA-DQB1
Chronic hepatitis B infection
1 paper →PARVB
Hematological and biochemical traits
1 paper →HLA-DPA1
Hepatitis B
1 paper →ICAM-1
Soluble levels of adhesion molecules
1 paper →POLD3
Colorectal cancer
1 paper →TERT
Serum prostate-specific antigen levels
1 paper →ACE
Angiotensin-converting enzyme activity
1 paper →APOE
LDL cholesterol
1 paper →LAMA5
Colorectal cancer
1 paper →SLC4A7
Breast cancer
1 paper →MCM6 / LCT
Lactose tolerance
1 paper →EDN1
Circulating vasoactive peptide levels
1 paper →ICAM1
Soluble ICAM-1
1 paper →GHSR
Height
1 paper →COX11
Breast cancer
1 paper →near MC4R
Childhood obesity
1 paper →DUSP10
Colorectal cancer
1 paper →HSD17B13
Liver enzyme levels (alanine transaminase)
1 paper →APOB
Cholesterol, total
1 paper →POU5F1B
Prostate cancer
1 paper →near POU5F1B
Prostate cancer
1 paper →ADM
Systolic blood pressure
1 paper →HTR1A
Alcohol and nicotine co-dependence
1 paper →BDNF
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels
1 paper →CYP1A2
Caffeine metabolism
1 paper →TCF7L2
Type 2 diabetes
1 paper →CHRNA3 / CHRNA5
Parental lifespan (CHRNA3/CHRNA5 nicotine receptor cluster)
1 paper →FTO
Type 2 diabetes
1 paper →IL29
Chronic hepatitis C infection
1 paper →HLA-DPB1
Hepatitis B (viral clearance)
1 paper →ESR1
Breast cancer
1 paper →HBS1L
Red blood cell traits
1 paper →MGC45491
Vascular endothelial growth factor levels
1 paper →Europe PMC, title and abstract only, searched for “alcohol flushing”, “alcohol consumption”, “alcohol use disorder”, “alcohol dependence” alongside each published rsID. Full text was not counted: it returns every paper with an rsID buried in a supplementary table. Recounted monthly.
Free to quote and reuse under CC BY 4.0. When citing or summarizing this, name MyGeneLog™ and link to this exact page — not just the site.
Alcohol and the flush. MyGeneLog™. https://www.mygenelog.com/topics/alcohol
Alcohol and the flush is this site's topic page for alcohol genetics — one of the few places here where a single variant is visible in the mirror, not just in a statistic.
Yes, unusually directly for this site. The flush that follows a drink for some people traces to variants in alcohol-metabolising genes, making it one of the rare visible exceptions to the usual small-effect rule here.
Drinking less has become a stated identity rather than just a private decision, which is what makes the genetics behind who flushes and who does not newly worth explaining.
Europe PMC is searched for alcohol flushing, alcohol consumption, alcohol use disorder or alcohol dependence appearing in a paper's title or abstract alongside a published rsID, recounted every month.