Association of serum uric acid levels with suicide risk in female patients with major depressive disorder: a comparative cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) have a high suicide risk. Some evidence suggests that uric acid (UA) may be involved in the pathophysiology of MDD. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether serum UA levels were associated with suicide risk in MDD patients.Methods: One hundred four female patients with MDD (52 patients with suicide risk and 52 patients without suicide risk) and 52 healthy individuals were included in this study. The suicide risk was evaluated by Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I). Fasting serum levels of UA, as well as glucose, lipid and renal function indicators were measured.Results: Serum UA levels in MDD patients with suicide risk (245.01 ± 55.44 μmol/L) were significantly lower than those in MDD patients without suicide risk (274.17 ± 72.65 μmol/L) (p = 0.017) and healthy controls (271.42 ± 55.25 μmol/L) (p = 0.030). There was no difference in serum UA levels between the MDD patients without suicide risk and healthy controls (p = 0.821). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between suicide risk and decreased serum UA levels (OR = 0.989, p = 0.010) in MDD patients.Conclusion: Decreased serum UA levels were associated with suicide risk in MDD patients. Purinergic system dysfunction may be involved in the neurobiological basis of suicide risk in these patients.

The Association Between Suicide Risk and Affective Temperaments in First-Episode and Neuroleptic-Naïve Major Depressive Disorder

“…The suicide risk section scores ranged from 0 to 33. As in our previous study, patients with a score <6 were classi ed as having nonsuicidal risk, and those with a score ≥6 were classi ed as having suicide risk [9]. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) was used to assess the severity of depressive symptoms [25].…”

“…Studies on factors leading to suicide have been undertaken for decades. The dimensions include but are not limited to genes, neuroanatomy, biochemistry, the environment, nutrition, physical and mental diseases, mainly depression and alcohol abuse [2,[5][6][7][8][9], but suicide prevention remains an area of uncertainty and needs further research [10].…”