Epigenome-wide association study of suicide attempt in schizophrenia
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a major clinical problem and represents a major risk factor for suicide. The molecular mechanisms of suicidal behavior in psychosis remain poorly investigated, although it has been hypothesized that epigenetic processes are involved in the etiology of both psychosis and suicidality. In this study, epigenome-wide patterns of methylation were measured in schizophrenia suicide attempters (n = 54) and schizophrenia non-suicide attempters (n = 69) using DNA extracted from white blood cells (WBC). Analyses focused on identifying differentially methylated CpG sites and gene regions between the attempters and non-attempters. We identified the CpG site cg19647197 within the CCDC53 gene, which is characterized by hypomethylation of WBC in the attempters compared to the non-attempters. Our results suggest that there is variation in DNA methylation associated with suicide attempt that may offer novel highlights into the molecular mechanisms linked to suicide attempt associated with schizophrenia.
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Recent large-scale epigenome-wide association studies have identified differential methylation sites across the genome, implicating pathways involved in immune activation, neuronal development, and circadian regulation.
“Recent large-scale epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) have begun to identify differential methylation sites across the genome, implicating pathways involved in immune activation, neuronal development, and circadian regulation (62).”
From Exploring the neurobiological markers of suicidal behaviors in pediatric population: a narrative review (2026) · cites this paper as [62]
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- Authors
- Bani-Fatemi, A., Jeremian, R., Wang, K. Z., Silveira, J., Zai, C., Kolla, N. J., Graff, A., Gerretsen, P., Strauss, J., & De Luca, V.
- Affiliations
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Psychiatric Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-09
- Volume
- 104
- Pages
- 192-197
- ISSN
- 0022-3956 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2883334752
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychiatric Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (PRG-0-026-15)
- CIHR (MOP-119332)
- Miner's Lamp Innovation Fund
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Keywords
- schizophrenia, suicide attempts, DNA methylation, epigenetics, differentially methylated CpG sites, leukocytes, hypomethylation, psychosis, suicidality
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Suicide, Attempted, CpG Islands, DNA Methylation, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Epigenomics
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