Experience of using the molecular genetic studies to assess the risk of suicide

Abstract

In the recent decades, there has been widespread the opinion that genetic markers of the suicidal behavior (suicide, suicidal attempts, suicidal thoughts) can be used to predict the suicidal behavior.The purpose of the study was to determine the possibility of using the method of molecular genetic research to assess the risk of suicide in men of 18‒27 years.The study used the case-control method. The control group included 100 men of 18‒27 years who never had mental disorders. The suicide group included the persons who committed highly traumatic methods of self-harm and were motivated to commit suicide (30 persons). DNA isolation was performed using a NucleoSpin Blood kit (Macherey‒Nagel, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Each DNA sample was analyzed for polymorphism by allelic discrimination using the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).The frequencies of occurrence of genotypes and alleles of the following genes were analyzed: HTR1A, rs6295 (G/C); BDNF, rs6265 (G/A); COMT, rs4680 (G/A); SKA2, rs7208505 (C/T); SLC6A4 (5HTT), rs25531 (T/C); 5HTR2A, rs6313 (G/A); TPH2, rs4570625 (G/T); TPH1, rs1800532 (G/T).A statistically significant difference was found for the frequency of occurrence of genotypes and alleles of the rs25531 polymorphism of the SLC6A4 (5HTT) gene. The chance of being in the suicide group with a heterozygous genotype (T/C) carriage was 2.346 times higher.The significance of the rs25531 polymorphism of the SLC6A4 (5HTT) gene for the formation of the suicidal behavior was confirmed.