Suicidal behavior: the genetic aspect of the gender paradox

The aim of this work is to systematize and interpret freely available, scattered, previously established data on the association of frequencies of suicides committed with gender (sex) genetic differences, the final result of which is the formation of an understanding of the various patterns of genes that form the suicidal phenotype in men and women by at least two different genetically realizable ways. The article deals with the issues of biological reasons for the formation of a suicidal phenotype as a consequence of the genetic program implemented as a result of the interaction of the pattern of polymorphic genes. As a result of calculating the gender suicidality rate (GSR - the quotient of dividing the relative rates of suicide rates in men by the rates of suicides in women, obtained according to WHO data as of 2019), it was concluded that the GSR value is generally constant and does not depend on climatic, geographic, economic, social and other external factors, which means it is determined by the humanity genetic background. We analyzed the literature data on the genetic differences in suicides of men and women obtained from the pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov database published during about a 20-year period, excluding works where suicides or suicidal attempts were committed due to severe mental disorders, either individual addictions, or in connection with acts of violence. The collected information allowed us to bring together two gene patterns that form the suicidal phenotype in men and women, respectively. Most of the genes associated with suicides in men are predominantly localized on the short arm of chromosome X and chromosome 22, as well as on chromosomes 1, 2, 5, 7, 11, 19. In addition, suicides in men are associated with age-related aberrations of early loss of the Y chromosome by blood cells. In women, genes localized on chromosomes 7, 10, 11, 17 and the HTR2C gene locus Xq23 are associated with suicides. There must also be a third non-sex pattern of genes associated with suicide. It is concluded that 1) there are sex-specific patterns of genetic polymorphisms, the total activity of which ends in suicide at certain age periods, which determines the survival of their carriers to the age of committing suicide; 2) the carriage of such patterns in the genome can be regarded as a multifactorial condition, the outcome of which is death as a result of committing suicide, and not functional age-related depletion of any organ systems.