Genetic polymorphisms in the SCN8A gene are associated with suicidal behavior in psychiatric disorders in the Chinese population.
OBJECTIVE
Suicidal behavior is a serious public health problem which is partly heritable. Identifying the genes and the neurobiologic pathways relevant to suicidal behavior is important for preventative strategies. One family-based study reported an association between sodium channel voltage gated type VIII alpha (SCN8A) and suicidal behavior. In the present study, we aimed to search for SCN8A polymorphisms conferring genetic susceptibility to suicide in the Chinese population.


METHODS
A total of 626 subjects was recruited for the study, including 297 suicide attempters and 329 non-attempters from Shanghai, China. We conducted a case-control association analysis of five SNPs (rs10506302, rs1601012, rs4762004, rs12581041, rs17126078) within the region of SCN8A gene.


RESULTS
we found that two genetic polymorphisms showed statistically significant differences between cases and controls (rs1601012, P=0.004; rs12581041, P=0.01). Moreover, no haplotypes were significantly associated with suicidal behavior in psychiatric disorders after the false discovery rate (FDR) correction. In the analysis of schizophrenia subgroup, three genetic polymorphisms showed statistically significant differences between cases and controls (rs10506302, P=0.024; rs1601012, P=0.004; rs12581041, P=0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the SCN8A gene may be involved in the susceptibility to suicidal behavior among psychiatric disorder patients in the Han Chinese population.
Wang
Yang
Y
Bio-X Center, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Zhang
Jing
J
Liu
Baocheng
B
Shao
Liyan
L
Wei
Zhiyun
Z
Li
Xingwang
X
Ji
Jue
J
Yang
Fengping
F
Wang
Ti
T
Liu
Jie
J
Wan
Chunling
C
Li
Baojie
B
Xu
Yifeng
Y
Feng
Guoyin
G
He
Lin
L
He
Guang
G
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000483:Alleles; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D062557:NAV1.6 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000235:genetics*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*
D062557:NAV1.6 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C100681:SCN8A protein, human; D015222:Sodium Channels