TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Association of polymorphism (Val66Met) of brain-derived neurotrophic factor with suicide attempts in depressed patients
JO  - Neuropsychobiology
A1  - Sarchiapone, Marco
A1  - Carli, Vladimir
A1  - Roy, Alec
A1  - Iacoviello, Licia
A1  - Cuomo, Chiara
A1  - Latella, Maria Carmela
A1  - di Giannantonio, Massimo
A1  - Janiri, Luigi
A1  - de Gaetano, Monica
A1  - Janal, M. N.
SP  - 139
EP  - 145
VL  - 57
IS  - 3
N2  - INTRODUCTION: Recent post-mortem studies of suicide victims have implicated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in suicide. Therefore, it was decided to examine the possible role of a gene in the regulation of BDNF activity in relation to suicidal behaviour among depressed patients. METHOD: A series of 170 depressed patients were evaluated for their history of suicide attempts and genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism (SNP ID: rs6265). Depressed patients who had (n = 97) or had not (n = 73) attempted suicide were compared. RESULTS: Depressed patients who carried the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism variant (GA + AA) appeared to show a significantly increased risk of suicidal behaviour. The risk of a suicide attempt was also significantly higher among those reporting higher levels of childhood emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Secondary analyses suggested that depression severity was a significant risk factor only in the wild-type BDNF genotype, and that the risk of suicide attempts was more predictable within the wild-type group. CONCLUSION: These preliminary data suggest that BDNF may play a role in the suicidal behaviour of depressed patients.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0302-282X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000142361
ID  - ref1
ER  -