Unraveling the molecular puzzle of suicidal brains

Author: Marit Coppens

What if we could diminish global suicide rates by understanding what biologically drives them? In October, Dr. Lin Zhang promoted from the UvA where she dedicated her work to finding a molecular signature for suicide. With this, she hopes for new therapies for people with suicidal thoughts, irrespective of whether they have a psychiatric diagnosis.
 

According to the World Health Organization, over 700,000 people die globally due to suicide each year, and even more people attempt suicide. The majority of suicides occurs in developing countries, making their national situation more precarious than it already is. 

Taboo
One of the challenges we globally face is the taboo surrounding suicide and mental illness. Especially in developing countries, the taboo surrounding suicide and psychiatric disease is ever present. This creates an environment where these sensitive subjects are not talked about, causing people to not seek help in time or not at all. 

In instances where people do want to reach out for help, mental health care in developing countries is often not generally accessible, leaving people undiagnosed and untreated. In digital correspondence with Dr. Zhang, she told me that “this precarious situation will not be improved in the long run”, while she also stressed that accessible mental health care is one of the most important pillars for suicide prevention. 

Suicide-specific therapeutics
Zhang therefore urges for new therapeutics that act as a, what she called, “first-aid prevention for people with suicidal thoughts”, regardless of whether they have a psychiatric diagnosis. This solution will be especially valuable for people who do not have access to mental health care, and thus no diagnosis. Her research aims to find suicide-specific biomarkers that are present in brains from people who passed from suicide, independently of the cause of the suicide. 

Puzzle of suicide
For her research, she used unique brain material not only from people who died from suicide, but also from people who died by legal euthanasia, both from people where the reason for euthanasia was a psychiatric disorder, and from people with incurable physical diseases. As a control she used material from people who died of natural causes, again where some had a diagnosed mental disorder, and some who didn’t. 

With this material she puzzled the pieces together and found a part of the molecular basis for the different aspects of suicidal behavior. Specific molecules were found in specific parts of the brain that were exclusive to people who died after suicide, called suicide-specific markers. She also found a different type of biomarker, which she called suicide-risk markers. These markers were changed in brains from people with a certain diagnosis of psychiatric disorder that died of fatal suicidality, but not in cases where the cause for suicide was not psychiatrically related. 

What’s next?
Eventually, she hopes to find two types of biomarkers. One are the suicide-related markers, mentioned earlier, and the other one are what she calls suicide-resilient markers. These are markers that might be present in people with a psychiatric diagnosis who had suicidal thoughts or even attempted suicide, but eventually died of natural causes. The molecules she has recently found, and the suicide-resilient markers may be potential candidates for suicide-therapies, but an actual therapy is far from being developed. 

On a high note, she keeps encouraging young students to join neuroscience research. “Under the microscope we can clearly see that many brain cells are constantly protecting you from being mentally harmed until their last moment. You will feel that you are deeply loved by yourself.” 

If you're thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, 24/7 help is available. Talk with someone for free and anonymously through the chat on www.113.nl or by phone through 113 or 0800-0113.