A gender-specific association between the serotonin transporter gene and suicide attempts

This pilot study Tested the gentler-specificity of the association between suicide attempts and a polymorphism in the promoter area of the serotonin transporter with two allelic variants, a long (1) variant and a short (s) variant. In a Spanish general hospital, 180 suicide attempters (121 women and 59 men) and 212 control blood donors (93 women and 119 men) were recruited. Subjects were classified as S individuals (s/s or s/l) with low expression of the serotonin transporter, and L individuals (l/l) with high expression. S individuals were significantly overrepresented (or L, underrepresented) in female attempters when compared with female controls arid male attempters. Lethality appeared to have a significant influence on the effects of the genotype in suicide since S females were overrepresented among non-lethal female attempters. Further studies are needed to replicate that the serotonin genotype polymorphism may influence suicide attempts only in females. (C) 2002 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.