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Relation between food reinforcement and dopamine genotypes and its effect on food intake in smokers^1,2,3

¹ From the Departments of Pediatrics (LHE, SMW, RAP, JLJ, and FGS), Orthopedics (JJL), and Psychology (LWH), School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo; Westat, Rockville, MD (SC-M); the Department of Oncology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (PGS); and the Department of Psychiatry, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (CL).

Background: Food reinforcement and dopaminergic activity may influence food consumption, but research on whether they interact has not been performed.

Objective: We assessed the effects of food reinforcement and the interaction of food reinforcement with the dopamine transporter (SLC6A3) genotype and the dopamine D₂ receptor (DRD₂) genotype on energy consumption.

Design: We studied food-consumption and reinforcing-value-of-food tasks in 88 smokers of European ancestry before they enrolled in smoking-cessation treatment. In the food-consumption task, subjects tasted and consumed 8 snack foods ad libitum. The reinforcing-value-of-food task assessed how hard subjects would work for food.

Results: Significant interactions between dopamine genotypes and food reinforcement were observed. Subjects high in food reinforcement who lacked an SLC6A3^*9 allele consumed significantly more calories (>150 kcal; P = 0.015) than did subjects low in food reinforcement or those high in food reinforcement who carried at least one SLC6A3^*9 allele. Similarly, subjects high in food reinforcement who carried at least one DRD₂^*A1 allele consumed >130 kcal more (P = 0.021) than did subjects low in food reinforcement or those high in food reinforcement who lacked a DRD₂^*A1 allele. There was also a main effect of food reinforcement on energy intake (P = 0.005), with subjects high in food reinforcement consuming 104 kcal (or 30%) more than did subjects low in food reinforcement.

Conclusions: Food reinforcement has a significant effect on energy intake, and the effect is moderated by the dopamine loci SLC6A3 and DRD₂.

Key Words: Eating • dopamine • food reinforcement • smokers • energy intake

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