Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the BDNF gene and suicide in the Slovenian sample

• Seven SNPs in the BDNF were studied for an association with completed suicide.
• Single-marker analyses showed no associations of the examined SNPs with suicide.
• Possible association of haplotypes with completed suicide was indicated.
• BDNF gene represents a good candidate for further investigations of suicidality.

In recent years, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and sequence variations within and near the BDNF gene have been studied for associations with various psychiatric disorders, including suicidal behavior. Since our previous work on completed suicide in Slavic population showed an association of the functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6265 in the BDNF gene, we decided to extend the investigation and test additional SNPs in the BDNF gene, rs7124442, rs10767664, rs962369, rs12273363, rs908867, rs1491850, and rs1491851, for association with completed suicide. Our study subjects were Caucasians, and included 486 suicide completers and 289 controls. The case/control comparisons of allele, genotype and haplotype frequency distributions were performed by means of Pearson’s X2 tests. Analyses of allele and genotype frequency distributions of the sudied SNPs did not reveal any significant differences between the controls and suicide completers. Haplotype analysis (rs7124442–rs10767664–rs962369–rs12273363–rs908867) showed an association of the haplotype C–A–T–C–C (pcorr = 0.038) with completed suicide, indicating that these SNPs on a haplotype level may play a role in completed suicide phenotype in our study sample.