Substantial evidence has accumulated indicating that a genetic predisposition underlies suicidal behaviour, and that the mediating mechanism may involve decreased serotonergic activity and/or low serum cholesterol level. Most association studies have focused on genes involved in the serotonergic tophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene has been extensively examined and conflicting findings have been reported. The meta-analysis presented here was conducted to clarify the role of the TPH gene in suicidal behaviour. No overall association between the TPH gene and suicidal behaviour was found. A shift in focus to genes related to regulation of cholesterol level may provide useful clues. Thus, five genes encoding proteins involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism were investigated for a role in suicidal behaviour. No association was detected between any of the genes examined and suicide, suggesting that none of the genes investigated plays a major role in the etiology of suicide. Further studies in a larger sample are necessary to exclude possible small genetic effects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.79022 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Lalovic, Aleksandra |
| Contributors | Turecki, Gustavo (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Psychiatry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001976439, proquestno: AAIMQ88237, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0098 seconds