Citation

Kimbrel NA, Garrett ME, Dennis MF, Hauser MA, Ashley-Koch AE, Beckham JC. Psychiatry Res. 2018; 269: 64-69.

Affiliation

Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2018.07.017

PMID

30145303

Abstract

Death by suicide and suicidal behavior are major concerns among U.S. military veterans; however, no genome-wide association studies (GWAS) studies of suicidal behavior have been conducted among U.S. military veterans to date, despite the elevated rate of suicidal behavior observed within this population. Accordingly, the primary objective of the present research was to conduct the first GWAS of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation in a large and well-characterized sample of U.S. military veterans. The gene most significantly associated (p = 9.28 × 10^-7) with suicide attempts was the Potassium Calcium-Activated Channel Subfamily M Regulatory Beta Subunit 2 (KCNMB2) gene, which plays a key role in neuronal excitability. In addition, replication analyses provided additional support for the potential role of the ABI Family Member 3 Binding Protein (ABI3BP) gene in the pathogenesis of suicidal behavior, as numerous nominal associations were found between this gene and both suicide attempts and suicidal ideation. Additional work aimed at replicating and extending these findings is needed.

Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Language: en