Association of personal and familial suicide risk with low serum cholesterol concentration in male lithium patients.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to establish whether low cholesterol concentration may be associated with a personal history of attempted suicide or a family history of completed suicide in psychiatric out-patients on maintenance lithium treatment, who represent a population at risk for suicide.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed charts regarding 783 out-patients consecutively admitted to a lithium clinic from 1976 to 1999. Individual age- and gender-specific quartile of serum cholesterol concentration were correlated against personal lifetime suicide attempts and completed suicide in first-degree relatives.


RESULTS
The proportion of men with a personal lifetime history of attempted suicide, especially if violent, and that of men with history of completed suicide in a first-degree relative were significantly higher among the group with cholesterol concentration in the lowest quartile compared to the group with cholesterol levels above the 25th percentile.


CONCLUSIONS
Low cholesterol concentration should be studied further as a potential biological/genetic marker of suicide risk.
Bocchetta
A
A
Department of Neurosciences 'Bernard B. Brodie', University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Chillotti
C
C
Carboni
G
G
Oi
A
A
Ponti
M
M
Del Zompo
M
M
D000328:Adult; D018692:Antimanic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012701:Serotonin / Q000097:blood; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*
D018692:Antimanic Agents; D005819:Genetic Markers; D012701:Serotonin; D002784:Cholesterol; D008094:Lithium