Suicide in Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a relevant clinical concern. Genetics may shape the individual risk for suicide behavior in BD, together with known clinical factors. The lack of con-sistent replication in BD may be associated with its multigenetic component. In the present contribution we analyzed a sample of BD individuals (from STEP-BD database) to identify the genetic variants potentially associated with three different suicide-related phenotypes: 1) a feeling that the life was not worth living; 2) fantasies about committing a violent suicide; 3) previous attempted suicide. The sample under analysis included 1115 BD individuals. None of the SNPs reached ge-nome-wide significance. However, a trend of association was evidenced for rs2767403, an intron variant of AOPEP gene, in association with phenotype #1 (p = 5.977 × 10−6). The molecular pathway analysis showed a significant enrichment in all the investigated phenotypes on pathways related to post synaptic signaling, neurotransmission and neurodevelopment. Further, NOTCH signaling or the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic signaling were found to be associated with specific suicide-related phenotypes. The present investigation contributes to the hypothesis that the genetic architecture of suicide behaviors in BD is related to alteration of entire pathways rather than single genes. In particular, our molecular pathway analysis points on some specific molecular events that could be the focus of further research in this field.

Suicide related phenotypes in a bipolar sample: Genetic underpinnings

Calabrò M.;Briuglia S.;Crisafulli C.
2021-01-01

Abstract

Suicide in Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a relevant clinical concern. Genetics may shape the individual risk for suicide behavior in BD, together with known clinical factors. The lack of con-sistent replication in BD may be associated with its multigenetic component. In the present contribution we analyzed a sample of BD individuals (from STEP-BD database) to identify the genetic variants potentially associated with three different suicide-related phenotypes: 1) a feeling that the life was not worth living; 2) fantasies about committing a violent suicide; 3) previous attempted suicide. The sample under analysis included 1115 BD individuals. None of the SNPs reached ge-nome-wide significance. However, a trend of association was evidenced for rs2767403, an intron variant of AOPEP gene, in association with phenotype #1 (p = 5.977 × 10−6). The molecular pathway analysis showed a significant enrichment in all the investigated phenotypes on pathways related to post synaptic signaling, neurotransmission and neurodevelopment. Further, NOTCH signaling or the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic signaling were found to be associated with specific suicide-related phenotypes. The present investigation contributes to the hypothesis that the genetic architecture of suicide behaviors in BD is related to alteration of entire pathways rather than single genes. In particular, our molecular pathway analysis points on some specific molecular events that could be the focus of further research in this field.
2021
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/3225196
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 2
  • Scopus 5
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact