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Association of polymorphisms in the SLIT2 axonal guidance gene with anger in suicide attempters

Molecular Psychiatry volume 15, pages 10–11 (2010)Cite this article

Axonal guidance is fundamental to neuron wiring during development, and is influential in the neural plasticity of the adult brain. The genetic basis of the axonal guidance molecular systems involved may ultimately affect the behavior of the adult organism, as shown for the Ephrin system and aggression.1 Compared with other adverse psychological conditions, suicidal behavior is determined by a complex set of genetic and environmental risk factors.2, 3 Here, we hypothesized that genetic risk factors may shape an individual's suicidal vulnerability during the development of the central nervous system, through polymorphisms in axonal guidance genes.

The design used, as previously described,4 nuclear family trios (both parents and one affected offspring). All offspring were of Caucasian origin from Ukraine, and all offspring had performed at least one medically serious suicide attempt (SA).4 SA was the main phenotype of the investigation, in line with the proposal for classifying suicidal behavior as a separate diagnosis in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM-V).5 The participants were further profiled using diagnostic measures, as well as stressful life event (SLE) inventories.4 The samples analyzed consisted of 269 screening and replication (SR) trios, 403 confirmation (C) trios and 672 combined SRC trios.4

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The National Swedish Prevention of Suicide and Mental Ill-Health (NASP) at the Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute (KI), Stockholm, Sweden

    M Sokolowski, J Wasserman & D Wasserman

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  1. M Sokolowski
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  2. J Wasserman
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  3. D Wasserman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D Wasserman.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Molecular Psychiatry website (http://www.nature.com/mp)

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Sokolowski, M., Wasserman, J. & Wasserman, D. Association of polymorphisms in the SLIT2 axonal guidance gene with anger in suicide attempters. Mol Psychiatry 15, 10–11 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2009.70

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