title: Association study ofMIFpromoter polymorphisms with suicide completers in the Japanese population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Numerous studies suggest that inflammation plays a key role in suicidal behavior. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory cytokine, has received increasing attention in depression research. However, no study has investigated whetherMIFhas genetic involvement in completed suicide. In this study, we sought to explore the relationship between two functional polymorphisms on theMIFgene promoter (MIF-794CATT5-8microsatellite andMIF-173G/C single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP]) and completed suicide by using one of the largest samples of suicide completers ever reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects comprised 602 suicide completers and 728 healthy controls. We genotypedMIF-794CATT5-8microsatellite by polymerase chain reaction-based size discrimination assay andMIF-173G/C SNP by TaqMan®SNP genotyping assay. The allele-, genotype-, or haplotype-based association analyses between the suicide completers and the controls were carried out with theχ2test, the Cochran-Armitage trend test, or Fisher's exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses of allele or genotype frequency distributions of the polymorphisms studied here did not reveal any significant differences between the suicide completers and the controls. Haplotype analysis also revealed no association with completed suicide.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the genetic association between MIF and completed suicide. Our results suggest that the effects ofMIF-794CATT5-8microsatellite andMIF-173G/C SNP on theMIFgene promoter might not contribute to the genetic risk of completed suicide in the Japanese population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Naofumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimmyo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Akitoyo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hishimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Shuken
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boku
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mouri
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Tadasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horai
authors.affiliation: Division of Legal Medicine, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Motonori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Legal Medicine, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shirakawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of Community Medicine and Social Health Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sora
keywords: MIF; SNP; haplotype; microsatellite; promoter region; suicide