Veterans Affairs VISN 5 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore, Maryland.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 23;82(2):20m13275. doi: 10.4088/JCP.20m13275.
Fatty acids (FAs) are involved in the functioning of biological systems previously associated with suicidal behavior (eg, monoamine signaling and the immune system). We sought to determine (1) whether observed FA levels in a sample of military suicide decedents and living matched controls were consistent with latent classes having distinctive FA profiles and (2) whether those latent classes were associated with suicide and mental health diagnoses.
Serum samples from 800 US military suicide decedents who died between 2002 and 2008 and 800 demographically matched living controls were selected at random from a large military serum repository and assayed for 22 different FAs. A latent class cluster analysis was performed using values of 6 FAs previously individually associated with suicide. Once the latent classes were identified, they were compared in terms of suicide decedent proportion, demographic variables, estimated FA enzyme activity, diagnoses, and mental health care usage.
A 6-latent class solution best characterized the dataset. Suicide decedents were less likely to belong to 2 of the classes and more likely to belong to 3 of the classes. The low-decedent classes differed from the high-decedent classes on 9 FAs and on estimated indices of activity for 3 FA enzymes: 14:0, 24:0, 18:1 n-9, 24:1 n-9, 22:5 n-3, 22:6 n-3, 20:2 n-6, 20:4 n-6, 22:5 n-6, elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein 1 (ELOVL1), ELOVL6, and Δ9 desaturase. The FA profiles of the latent classes were consistent with biological abnormalities previously associated with suicidal behavior.
This study suggests the utility of methods that simultaneously examine multiple FAs when trying to understand their relationship with suicide and psychiatric illness.
脂肪酸（FA）参与了先前与自杀行为相关的生物系统的功能（例如，单胺信号和免疫系统）。我们试图确定：（1）在军事自杀死亡者和匹配的生存者样本中观察到的 FA 水平是否与具有独特 FA 特征的潜在类别一致；（2）这些潜在类别是否与自杀和精神健康诊断相关。
从一个大型军事血清库中随机选择了 800 名 2002 年至 2008 年间死亡的美国军事自杀死亡者和 800 名在人口统计学上匹配的生存对照者的血清样本，并对 22 种不同的 FA 进行了检测。使用先前与自杀单独相关的 6 种 FA 值进行了潜在类别聚类分析。确定潜在类别后，根据自杀死亡者比例、人口统计学变量、估计的 FA 酶活性、诊断和心理健康护理使用情况对其进行了比较。
6 个潜在类别解决方案最能描述数据集。自杀死亡者不太可能属于 2 个类别，而更有可能属于 3 个类别。低死亡类别与高死亡类别在 9 种 FA 和 3 种 FA 酶的估计活性指数上存在差异：14:0、24:0、18:1 n-9、24:1 n-9、22:5 n-3、22:6 n-3、20:2 n-6、20:4 n-6、22:5 n-6、长链脂肪酸延长蛋白 1（ELOVL1）、ELOVL6 和 Δ9 去饱和酶。潜在类别中的 FA 特征与先前与自杀行为相关的生物学异常一致。
本研究表明，当试图了解 FA 与自杀和精神疾病的关系时，同时检查多种 FA 的方法是有用的。
