Suicide, impulsive aggression, and HTR1B genotype

Background: Suicidality and impulsive aggression are partially heritable, a nd postmortem brain studies suggest that abnormalities in serotonin 1B may be associated with suicide. Studies of serotonin 1B "knockout" mice show an increase in aggressive behavior relative to wild-type mice. Methods: We assessed the relationship between genotype at the HTR1B locus a nd both suicide history and impulsive aggression in personality disorders. Results: The "G" allele of a polymorphic gene at the HTR1B locus was associ ated with a history of suicide attempts in white patients with personality disorders [chi (2)(1) = 9.3, p = .01, n = 90]. No relationship was found be tween HTR1B genotype and self-reported impulsive aggression. Conclusions: This preliminary finding suggests that allelic variability at the HTR1B locus may be associated with the susceptibility to suicide attemp ts in patients with personality disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2001;50:62-65 (C ) 2001 Society of Biological Psychiatry.