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Further clarification of the contribution of the tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene to suicidal behavior using systematic allelic and genotypic meta-analyses

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Abstract

Suicide is a major public health issue, especially in western countries, accounting for approximately 1 million deaths every year throughout the world. The tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene has been extensively studied as a candidate for suicidal behavior due to its role in serotonergic neurotransmission. Since the first study associating the gene with schizophrenia, there have been many attempts to replicate it. However, a number of these studies have produced contrary results, possibly reflecting inadequate statistical power and the use of different populations. Association data relating European and, more particularly, Asian populations has become increasingly available in recent years. To examine whether the aggregate data provide evidence of statistical significance, the current meta-analysis has combined all the published studies up to July 2005, and examined the polymorphisms (A779C, A218C, A-6526G) in the context of varied suicidal behaviors by analyzing the studies in total and in subsets. Compared with the inconsistent results of previous studies, the current results (22 references) confirm a strong overall association between suicidal behavior and the A779C/A218C polymorphisms, supporting the involvement of TPH in the pathogenesis of suicidal behavior.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, PRC, the national 973 and 863 programs, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Shanghai Municipal Commission for Science and Technology.

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  1. Shanghai Jiaotong University, Bio-X Center, Hao Ran Building, 1954 Hua Shan Road, 200030, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Dawei Li

  2. Institute for Nutritional Sciences, SIBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 294 Taiyuan Road, 200031, Shanghai, China

    Dawei Li & Lin He

  3. NHGG Bio-X Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 200030, Shanghai, China

    Lin He

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  1. Dawei Li
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Correspondence to Lin He.

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Li, D., He, L. Further clarification of the contribution of the tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene to suicidal behavior using systematic allelic and genotypic meta-analyses. Hum Genet 119, 233–240 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-005-0113-x

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