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Association of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism with suicidal behavior

Molecular Psychiatry volume 8, pages 899–900 (2003)Cite this article

SIR – The potential role of the functional polymorphism in the regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) in suicidal behavior has been a matter of controversy. Since suicidal behavior is a complex, multideterminated phenomenon, we hypothesized that the conflicting results may be explained by differences in characterization of suicide attempts. Thus, a detailed phenotypic characterization of the suicide attempt is of major interest given that a biological factor could play a major role in some categories of suicidal behavior (eg violent or impulsive or more lethal or repetitive ones) but not in every one. We have previously found an association between lower serotonergic function and suicidal behavior in major depressed1 and schizophrenic patients.2 Thus, to test this hypothesis we investigated the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in a well-characterized sample of in-patients, subgrouped according to lifetime suicide behavior characteristics and in a sample of healthy controls.

Patients with consecutive admissions, diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria based on a structured interview,3 with recurrent major depression (n=106) or schizophrenia (n=131) were enrolled. Healthy controls, without history of suicide, (n=75, staff or faculty members) were interviewed and were free of psychiatric illness, with no familial history of axis I psychiatric disorder up to first-degree relatives.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Farmacogenética, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    A C Campi-Azevedo, W Boson, L De Marco, M A Romano-Silva & H Correa

  2. Departamento de Farmacologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    L De Marco & M A Romano-Silva

  3. Departamento de Morfologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    H Correa

  4. Grupo de Pesquisa em Neuropsiquiatria Clínica e Molecular, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    A C Campi-Azevedo, M A Romano-Silva & H Correa

Authors
  1. A C Campi-Azevedo
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  2. W Boson
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  3. L De Marco
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  4. M A Romano-Silva
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  5. H Correa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to H Correa.

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Campi-Azevedo, A., Boson, W., De Marco, L. et al. Association of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism with suicidal behavior. Mol Psychiatry 8, 899–900 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001381

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