Lack of Association Between Serotonin 5-HT1B Receptor Gene Polymorphism and Suicidal Behavior

This study examined a possible genetic susceptibility to attempt suicide. The distribution of a polymorphism(G861C) in the 5-HT1B gene was examined in 148 consecutively hospitalized German suicide attempters, & 327 healthy volunteers randomly recruited from the general population. No significant differences were found in allele or genotype frequency between patients & controls. These findings suggest that the 5-HT1B polymorphism is unlikely to play a major role in the genetic susceptibility to attempt suicide. (11 refs) (SC)