Suicide behavior as a quantitative trait and its genetic background

- The genetic background of suicidal predisposition is still unclear.
- TPH1, TPH2 and 5HT2A variants are involved in the risk of suicidal behavior.
- Moreover CRHR1 and ACP1 variants are involved in this risk.
- Various signaling pathways and non-genetic factors play a role in the risk of suicide.

IntroductionStudies have not given yet a clear answer what is the genetic background of suicidal predisposition. The associations between polymorphisms of the TPH1 and 5-HTTLPR genes and violent suicidal behavior was revealed with the least inconsistencies.MethodWe selected 10 “strong candidate genes” and 35 SNPs, SLC6A4 and ACP1 for replication study. We searched associations between precisely described suicidal phenotype in 825 affective patients and polymorphisms of selected neurobiological pathways genes as well as their interactions that constitute suicidal risk.ResultsThe results confirm the role of TPH1, TPH2, 5HT2A, CRHR1 and ACP1 variants in the risk of suicidal behavior.LimitationsIn our study we analyzed limited number of candidate genes and only one of them is linked to lithium mechanism of action. We had no data on pharmacological treatment of investigated patients and its relation to the time of suicide attempt.ConclusionOur results indicate that polymorphisms of various signaling pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of suicidal behavior. Non-genetic factors are also involved in the risk of suicidal attempts.