Association between serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms and increased suicidal risk among HIV positive patients in Uganda
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC genetics
Abstract
Persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are at an increased risk of suicide. Increased suicidal risk is a
predictor of future attempted and completed suicides and has been associated with poor quality of life and poor
adherence with antiretroviral therapy. Clinical risk factors have low predictive value for suicide, hence the interest in
potential neurobiological correlates and specific heritable markers of suicide vulnerability. The serotonin transporter
gene has previously been implicated in the aetiology of increased suicidal risk in non-HIV infected study populations
and its variations may provide a platform for identifying genetic risk for suicidality among PLWHA. The present
cross-sectional study aimed at identifying two common genetic variants of the serotonin transporter gene and their
association with increased suicidal risk among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive adults in Uganda.
Results: The prevalence of increased suicidal risk (defined as moderate to high risk suicidality on the suicidality module
of the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I) was 3.3% (95% CI, 2.0–5.3). The 5-HTTLPR was found to be associated
with increased suicidal risk before Bonferroni correction (p-value = 0.0174). A protective effect on increased suicidal risk
was found for the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 SA allele (p-value = 0.0046)- which directs reduced expression of the serotonin
transporter gene (5-HTT).
Conclusion: The SA allele at the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 locus is associated with increased suicidal risk among Ugandan
PLWHA. Further studies are needed to validate this finding in Ugandan and other sub-Saharan samples.
Description
Keywords
Suicidal risk, Serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene polymorphisms, HIV/Aids, Uganda
Citation
Kalungi, A., Seedat, S., Hemmings, S. M., Van der Merwe, L., Joloba, M. L., Nanteza, A., ... & Kinyanda, E. (2017). Association between serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms and increased suicidal risk among HIV positive patients in Uganda. BMC genetics, 18(1), 1-9. DOI 10.1186/s12863-017-0538-y