Suicidal behavior is heritable and is a major cause of death worldwide. Two large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWASs) recently discovered and cross-validated genome-wide significant (GWS) loci for suicide attempt (SA). The present study leveraged the genetic cohorts from both studies to conduct the largest GWAS meta-analysis of SA to date. Multi-ancestry and admixture-specific meta-analyses were conducted within groups of significant African, East Asian, and European ancestry admixtures.
Suicide attempt is strongly associated with psychiatric conditions, poor quality of life, traumatic experiences, and social and economic burden and is the single strongest predictor of future suicide death.
Heritability estimates for suicidal thoughts and behaviors from twin and family studies range from 30% to 55%, and recent large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have yielded promising and replicable results.
Related on the SLP
The International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC) (total N=549,743; 29,782 cases) identified two loci reaching genome-wide significance for suicide attempt in individuals of primarily European ancestry admixtures, on chromosomes 6 (index SNP: rs71557378; p=1.97×10−8) and 7 (index SNP: rs62474683; p=1.91×10−10).
