GENETIC STUDIES OF SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR
Section snippets
CLINICAL STUDIES
A family history of suicide has been noted to be associated with suicidal behavior at all stages of the life cycle.
TWIN STUDIES
Identical twins share the same genes, whereas fraternal twins share only 50% of their genes. Thus, if the propensity to commit suicide was transmitted genetically, concordance for suicide should be found more frequently among identical than fraternal twins. Kallman 13 stated “If hereditary factors play a decisive role we should find a concordant tendency to suicide more frequently in one-egg than in two-egg pairs regardless of ordinary differences in environment.”
In 1967, Haberlandt 10, 11
ADOPTION STUDIES
The strongest evidence for the presence of genetic factors in suicide comes from the adoption studies carried out in Denmark by Schulsinger et al 38 and Wender et al.46 The strength of the adoption strategy is that it is the best way to tease apart “nature” from “nuture” issues. This is because individuals separated at birth, or shortly afterward, share their genes—but not subsequent environmental experiences—with their biologic relatives. In contrast, adoptees share their environmental
BIOLOGICAL SUBSTRATE
Kety 15 also noted that there has been much recent work on the biology of impulsivity and that disturbance in central serotonin has been described in relation to suicidal behavior. In this regard, it is noteworthy that Buchsbaum et al 5 found that significantly more college students with low blood platelet levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) had a family history of suicidal behavior compared with students with high platelet MAO levels. This enzyme is involved in the metabolism of
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2023, Chemical Engineering JournalSerotonin transporter gene polymorphism as a predictor of short-term risk of suicide reattempts
2018, European PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :In addition, subjects who reattempted suicide at 6 months of follow-up were more likely to be younger, have a history of previous SA, and experienced their first SA at younger age. Epidemiological studies suggest that suicide and SB is, at least partially, genetically determined with a pattern of transmission independent of the genetic transmission of psychiatric disorders [41]. Although the pathological mechanisms that lead to SB have not yet been elucidated, one of the most consistent findings is the observation of a reduced serotonergic function [13,42].
Hopelessness, a potential endophenotpye for suicidal behavior, is influenced by TPH2 gene variants
2012, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryInteraction of 5-HTTLPR genotype and unipolar major depression in the emergence of aggressive/hostile traits
2011, Journal of Affective DisordersCitation Excerpt :It is well known that the s allele of the 5-HTTLPR is associated not only with depression (Clarke et al., 2010; Lotrich and Pollock, 2004) and aggression/hostility (Gonda et al., 2009), but also with violent suicidal behavior (Gonda et al., in press), and the majority of suicides are committed by patients suffering from major depression (Rihmer, 2007). It has also been reported that the association between violent suicidality and the s allele is independent from the association between affective disorders and the s allele (Bellivier et al., 2000; Mann, 1998; Roy et al., 1997). Viewed from this aspect, our results indicate that the presence of the s allele may convey increased suicide risk via two different pathways: by increasing the risk of the development of major depression, and by increasing the manifestation of aggressive/hostile traits, which is more marked in case of depressed people also according to our results and also to reports of increased anger attacks in case of unipolar but also bipolar depressives during depressive episodes (Mammen et al., 2004; Perlis et al., 2004; Fava, 1998).
Suicide
2009, Encyclopedia of Neuroscience
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