ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The response to acupuncture is presumed to differ with the individual; this variation might be due to genetic differences. Therefore, we examined whether the DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism is associated with the response to acupuncture in the treatment of smoking cessation in a Korean population. SUBJECTS: A total of 231 healthy Korean male smokers participated in this study. INTERVENTIONS: The subjects underwent three manual auricular acupuncture treatments in one week. DESIGN AND OUTCOME MEASURES: After 1 week, high and low responders to the acupuncture treatment were selected according to their cigarette consumption and the desire to smoke. A DRD2 TaqI A restriction enzyme fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) study examined genomic DNA extracted from blood samples. RESULTS: The proportions of high, intermediate, and low responders were 28.6, 55.4, and 16.0%, respectively. The RFLP study showed that the distribution of the DRD2*A genotype and allele frequencies differed significantly between the high and low responders (chi(2) test, p = 0.031 and 0.016, respectively), and that high responders had a higher DRD2*A2 allele frequency than low responders. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that DRD2 TaqI A polymorphism is related to acupuncture response in smoking cessation treatment.
