Representing a major public health concern, suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Generally regarded as a behavior with a multitude of state and trait dependent risk factors (e.g. psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, genetics), explanations as to why certain individuals commit suicide while others do not are complex. Of interest is in studying potential trait dependent variables involved in the neurobiology of suicide, particularly at the cellular level. Knowledge of the cellular integrity may aid in explaining the observed macroscopic alterations and ultimately the behavioral correlates associated with suicidality. Therefore we set out to summarize extant knowledge of the cellular alterations occurring in the brains of major depressive and suicide individuals. Following this, we conducted our own cellular investigation in a region known to be altered in major depression and suicide, a supracallosal area of BA24a. Neuronal and glial cell densities as well as neuronal cell sizes were assessed in upper and lower cortical layers between sudden-death controls and MDD suicide subjects. Secondary analyses were also conducted to examine the effect of alcohol on depressed suicides. Analyses of cell densities and neuronal soma sizes between controls and MDD suicide subjects did not reveal any significant differences. Further analyses showed increased glial cell densities in alcoholic depressed suicides. Future studies are necessary to examine explicit changes in the cellular compositions occurring in alcoholic dependent individuals. Staining techniques aimed at targeting specific subtypes of neurons and glial cells will help determine if these cell populations do in fact have an influential role in suicide and MDD.

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