• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: KLB is associated with alcohol drinking, and its gene product β-Klotho is necessary for FGF21 regulation of alcohol preference
  • Contributor: Schumann, Gunter; Liu, Chunyu; O’Reilly, Paul; Gao, He; Song, Parkyong; Xu, Bing; Ruggeri, Barbara; Amin, Najaf; Jia, Tianye; Preis, Sarah; Lepe, Marcelo Segura; Akira, Shizuo; Barbieri, Caterina; Baumeister, Sebastian; Cauchi, Stephane; Clarke, Toni-Kim; Enroth, Stefan; Fische, Kristar; Hällfors, Jenni; Harris, Sarah E.; Hieber, Saskia; Hofer, Edith; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Johansson, Åsa; [...]
  • imprint: National Academy of Sciences, 2016
  • Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <p>Excessive alcohol consumption is a major public health problem worldwide. Although drinking habits are known to be inherited, few genes have been identified that are robustly linked to alcohol drinking. We conducted a genome-wide association metaanalysis and replication study among &gt;105,000 individuals of European ancestry and identified β-Klotho (<italic>KLB</italic>) as a locus associated with alcohol consumption (rs11940694; <italic>P</italic> = 9.2 × 10<sup>−12</sup>). β-Klotho is an obligate coreceptor for the hormone FGF21, which is secreted from the liver and implicated in macronutrient preference in humans. We show that brain-specific β-Klotho KO mice have an increased alcohol preference and that FGF21 inhibits alcohol drinking by acting on the brain. These data suggest that a liver–brain endocrine axis may play an important role in the regulation of alcohol drinking behavior and provide a unique pharmacologic target for reducing alcohol consumption.</p>
  • Access State: Open Access