A study conducted by IGM-CNR researchers and published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, has established the importance of a human single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human genome in the smoking behavior in the Italian population. In 2008, some studies had identified a biallelic variant present in the gene cluster CHRNA5-A3-B4 as associated to the smoker's addiction to large amounts of nicotine consumption (> 10 cigarettes per day). The same nucleotide variant has been confirmed to have the same effect in three Italian genetic isolates, Val Borbera (http://www.valborbera.org/), Cilento (http: //www.igb .cnr.it / cilentoisolates) and Carlantino. Even in the Italian population allele A of rs1051730 variant predisposes to be "heavy smokers", a condition that is a risk factor for the onset of serious diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Reference: Sorice R, Bione S, Sansanelli S, Ulivi S, Athanasakis E, Lanzara C, Nutile T, Sala C, Camaschella C, D'Adamo P, Gasparini P, Ciullo M, Toniolo D. Eur J Hum Genet. 2011; 19(5):593-6..
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