Indonesian culture actually has no historical record of behaviors in consuming alcohol, but there are many recent reports of alcohol abuse among Asian people involving their traditional drink. In genotype studies, the damage of the liver caused by consuming alcohol is influenced by the presence of the polymorphism enzyme gene. The lack of study regarding such topic is a signal to further investigate ADH3 gene distribution and its effect on liver function status.

The total of 197 research subjects of Javanese descent received alcohol dehydrogenase 3 (ADH3) genetic polymorphism and liver status tests in the city of Yogyakarta, Indonesian. An analytical study with a cross-sectional design was then conducted on the subjects, with the resulting isolated DNAs amplified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The genotype of ADH3 was determined by means of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using Ssp1 restricting enzyme.

Liver function status was assessed by measuring serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) using a photometric system. Gene types of ADH3*1 (2.1%), ADH3*2 (82.7%) and ADH3*1/3*2 (15.2%) on the subjects were concluded, finding that there is no difference between the gender. In conclusion most of the ADH3 gene polymorphism of the subjects were ADH3*2 (82.7%). The influence of genetic polymorphisms on the status of liver function in the subjects showed significant difference according to GGT measurement, but the same cannot be said on the other two values measuring SGOT and SGPT.