Two manuscripts appear in this issue of Biological Psychiatry involving suicide. Ernst et al. (
1
) found reduced expression of connexin 30 and connexin 43, which regulate calcium
transients in the lateral prefrontal cortex of suicide completers. It is thought that
astrocytes express connexins and it is argued that altered connexins affect astrocyte
function, which could contribute to suicide. Cyprien et al. (
2
) found that the size of the caudal third of the corpus callosum was reduced in a
group of suicide attempters. Taken together, the findings support the notion that
there may be a neurobiology of suicide distinct from the psychiatric disorders commonly
associated with suicide, involving alterations in glia, white matter, and by extension,
the regions where the astrocytes are derived from (
1
) and where the regions contribute fiber tracts to the corpus callosum (
2
). Given the markedly different substrates (astrocytes vs. white matter; prefrontal
cortex vs. corpus callosum), there is the further likelihood that suicide neurobiology
has multiple phenotypes involving not only neurodegeneration but also neurodevelopment
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References
- Dysfunction of astrocyte connexins 30 and 43 in dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex of suicide completers.Biol Psychiatry. 2011; 70: 312-319
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
June 6,
2011
Received:
June 6,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Suicidal Behavior Is Associated with Reduced Corpus Callosum AreaBiological PsychiatryVol. 70Issue 4
- Dysfunction of Astrocyte Connexins 30 and 43 in Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex of Suicide CompletersBiological PsychiatryVol. 70Issue 4
- PreviewSuicide is an important public health problem that results from the interaction of both psychosocial and biological factors. Although it is known that particular neurobiological processes underlie suicidal ideation and behavior, there still remains limited knowledge about the specific factors involved.
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