Tag: Biological research

Lyme disease and risk of suicidal behaviour suicidal adfærd

The Borrelia bacterium, which exists in ticks, can develop into an infectious disease in humans when bitten. This disease is known as lyme disease (or Lyme Borreliosis) Infections have previously been associated with an increased risk of suicidal behavior. Trine Madsen from DRISP has, in collaboration with colleagues, investigated whether Lyme Borreliosis was linked to increased prevalence of psychiatric diseases and suicidal behavior.

Using register data for all persons living in Denmark from 1994 to 2016 (n=6,945,837), patients diagnosed with Lyme Borreliosis were identified based on hospital diagnoses. Their risk of developing psychiatric diseases and suicidal behavior was analyzed.

The results showed that persons who developed Lyme Borreliosis (i.e., an infection after a tick bite) had a 1.3-fold higher rate of psychiatric diseases, as well as a 2-fold higher rate of suicide attempts and a 1.75-fold higher suicide rate when compared to the background population. The highest risk of developing a psychiatric disease was observed within the first 6 months after persons developed Lyme Borreliosis. If the person had had multiple incidents of Lyme Borreliosis, this was associated with an increasing risk of suicide attempts.

In conclusion, the study showed that persons diagnosed with Lyme Borreliosis at Danish hospitals have an increased prevalence of psychiatric diseases, suicide attempts and suicide.

You can find the study here: https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.20091347




DRISP: Trine Madsen, Merete Nordentoft & Annette Erlangsen

Partners:

  • Michael Eriksen Benros, Research Unit, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen
  • Brian A. Fallon, MD, Center for Neuroinflammatory Disorders and Biobehavioral Medicine and director of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University, USA

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and risk of suicidal behaviour

We found that the risk of suicide is almost twice as high in people who experienced a TBI compared with people who had no TBI records. The risk was especially high in the first period after the TBI incident and oncreased by number of experienced TBI’s.

Internationale media
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Reuters
ABC News
The Telegraph (britiskmedie)


The study has been published in JAMA.

DRISP: Trine Madsen, Merete Nordentoft & Annette Erlangsen

Partners:

  • Michael Eriksen Benros Research Unit, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen

Genetics of suicide attempts in individuals with and without mental disorders

Family studies shown an aggregation of suicidal behaviour in families. The aim of this study was to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and estimate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) heritability for suicide attempt in a national sample of individuals with and without mental disorders. This is the largest sample investigated to date, significant SNP associations to suicide attempt were identified. The findings furthermore indicated that genetic transmission of suicide attempt is not solely explained by diagnosed mental disorders.
The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry.
The project was funded by the iPSYCH-grant from the Danish Lundbeck Foundation

DRISP: Annette Erlangsen & Merete Nordentoft

Partners:

  • Vivek Appadurai, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Yunpeng Wang, PhD, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Gustavo Turecki, MD, PhD, McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • Ole Mors, PhD, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Thomas Werge, PhD, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Preben B Mortensen, DrMedSc, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Anna Starnawska, PhD, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Anders D Børglum, PhD, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Andrew Schork, MS, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Ron Nudel, DPhil, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Marie Bækvad-Hansen, PhD, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Jonas Bybjerg-Grauholm, MSc, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • David M Hougaard, DrMedSc, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Wesley K Thompson, The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark
  • Esben Agerbo, DrMedSc The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Denmark


Infections and suicide

Findings suggest that infections might be linked to the development of psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviour. To estimate the association between hospitalization with infection and the risk of death by suicide. An increased risk of death by suicide was found among individuals hospitalized with infection in prospective and dose-response relationships. These findings indicate that infections may have a relevant role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of suicidal behaviour.
The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
The project has received support from the Lundbeck Foundation.

DRISP: Annette Erlangsen, Trine Madsen, og Merete Nordentoft

Partners:

  • Michael E. Benros , PhD, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
  • Holger J. Sørensen, MD,Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
  • William W. Eaton, PhD, Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
  • Teodor T. Postolache, MD, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore