Research Library / Article Summary

Risk assessment of substance use disorders based on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)

Plain-English AddictionTube research summary with source link, DOI, key finding, and recovery relevance.

Scientific Reports • 26 May 2023 • Research

opioidalcoholcocainemethamphetaminecannabisbrain sciencegenetics

Research focus

This article may help explain addiction science through research on opioid, alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine. The source abstract begins by describing: “Substance use disorders (SUDs) are common and costly conditions that are partially attributable to genetic factors.”

Key finding: Overall, the findings highlight similarities and differences in immunogenetic profiles of SUDs that may influence the prevalence and co-occurrence of problematic SUDs and may contribute to assessment of SUD risk of an individual on the basis of their HLA genetic makeup.

Why this may help: This may help explain why addiction can involve brain, behavior, mental health, craving, relapse, or treatment factors rather than simple willpower alone. It should be read as research information, not personal medical advice.

Article details

Authors: Lisa M. James, Apostolos P. Georgopoulos

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35305-2

Open access: Open Access

Open original source article

Related article summaries

Genome-wide meta-analyses of cross substance use disorders in diverse populations

This article may help explain addiction science through research on opioid, alcohol, cannabis, nicotine. The source abstract begins by describing: “Substance use disorders (SUDs, including alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and tobacco) represent significant public health challenges.”

Key finding: Lastly, using a real-world dataset, we identified seven SUD-shared genes targeting drugs that may be repurposed for treating SUDs, particularly in those suffering from comorbid SUDs.

Molecular Psychiatry • 07 Oct 2025 • Research

opioidalcoholcannabisnicotinebrain sciencegenetics

Read plain-English summary Open source

Polysubstance use disorders among US adults

This article may help explain addiction science through research on opioid, alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine. The source abstract begins by describing: “Polysubstance use disorders ( ≥ 2 substance use disorders (SUDs)) are associated with high morbidity and mortality.”

Key finding: The elevated prevalence of polysubstance use disorders associated with early initiation of substance use underscores the critical need for evidence-based strategies to prevent alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine consumption before age 21.

Molecular Psychiatry • 29 Apr 2026 • Research

opioidalcoholcocainemethamphetaminecannabisnicotine

Read plain-English summary Open source

Prefrontal circHomer1 regulates synaptic and behavioral adaptations induced by cocaine

This article may help explain addiction science through research on opioid, cocaine, methamphetamine, dopamine. The source abstract begins by describing: “Substance use disorder (SUD) represents a substantial challenge in neuropsychiatric medicine, with the molecular mechanisms underlying its etiology remaining elusive.”

Key finding: Our findings highlight the significant role of circHomer1 in regulating cocaine reward and identify a novel molecular regulator of the actions of cocaine on the brain’s reward circuitry, providing a new strategy for treating drug addiction.

Molecular Psychiatry • 08 Nov 2025 • Research

opioidcocainemethamphetaminedopaminebrain sciencegenetics

Read plain-English summary Open source

A novel microRNA, novel-m009C, regulates methamphetamine rewarding effects

This article may help explain addiction science through research on opioid, cocaine, methamphetamine, dopamine. The source abstract begins by describing: “Methamphetamine (METH) is a widely abused psychostimulant, whose hyper-rewarding property is believed to underlie its addictive effect, but the molecular mechanism regulating this effect remains unclear.”

Key finding: Our findings demonstrate an important role for NAc novel-m009C in regulating METH reward, reveal a novel molecular regulator of the actions of METH on brain reward circuitries and provide a new strategy for treating METH addiction based on the modulation of small non-coding RNAs.

Molecular Psychiatry • 17 Jun 2022 • Research

opioidcocainemethamphetaminedopaminebrain sciencegenetics

Read plain-English summary Open source

Cannabidiol mitigates alcohol dependence and withdrawal with neuroprotective effects in the basolateral amygdala and striatum

This article may help explain addiction science through research on alcohol, cannabis, brain science, withdrawal. The source abstract begins by describing: “Alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains a pervasive public health issue with limited effective treatments.”

Key finding: These findings indicate that chronic CBD administration attenuates both behavioral and neurobiological facets of alcohol dependence by modulating neuronal excitability and preventing neurodegeneration, supporting its therapeutic potential for AUD and providing mechanistic insights for future research.

Neuropsychopharmacology • 10 Jul 2025 • Research

alcoholcannabisbrain sciencewithdrawalrelapsegenetics

Read plain-English summary Open source