title: Association of neurotrophins, inflammation and stress with suicide risk in young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stress, anxiety and various neurobiological changes have been postulated to be associated with increased suicidal ideation. Hence, this study was undertaken to evaluate the serum concentrations of neurotrophins, inflammatory markers and stress concentrations as predictors of suicidal risk among young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care referral center in South India from March 2014 to February 2015. We recruited 42 suicide attempters and 42 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The serum concentrations of neurotrophins (BDNF and NT-3), inflammatory markers (hs-CRP and IL-6) were assessed. Stress severity was assessed by Presumptive Stressful Life Events scale (PSLE) and Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scale-revised (DHUS-R). Psychological distress and Suicide risk was assessed using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Suicide attempters tend to show significantly lower concentrations of neurotrophins and significantly higher concentrations of inflammatory markers. We observed significant negative correlation of neurotrophins with inflammatory markers, stress, and suicide risk. In multivariate linear regression model, hs-CRP [adjusted β=0.333, p<0.0001], PSLE [adjusted β=0.133, p=0.029], DHUS-R [adjusted β=0.159, p=0.018] emerged as independent predictors of suicide risk (R(2)=0.76).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that inflammation and stress scores have a moderate association with suicidal ideation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: P Kaviya
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Priya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India. Electronic address: linkmedha@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Medha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rajappa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: Shivanand
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kattimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Mohanraj
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Revathy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000097:blood*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013405:Suicide
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: Cholesterol; High sensitivity C-reactive protein; Interleukin-6; Neurotrophins; Stress; Suicide; Suicide predictors