Exploring the association of addiction-related genetic factors with non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents

Zhichao Guo; Yilin Liu; Chengjuan Wang; Shujun Li; Lei Yu; Wenzhi Wu; Xu You; Yunqiao Zhang; Zhaowei Teng; Yong Zeng

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1126615

Exploring the association of addiction-related genetic factors with non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 31:14:1126615. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1126615. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zhichao Guo¹, Yilin Liu¹, Chengjuan Wang², Shujun Li¹, Lei Yu¹, Wenzhi Wu¹, Xu You³, Yunqiao Zhang³, Zhaowei Teng¹, Yong Zeng¹

Affiliations

¹ The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
² The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
³ Honghe Second People's Hospital, Honghe, China.

Abstract

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is self-injurious behavior without suicidal intent commonly seen in the adolescent population and poses a serious threat to the life safety of adolescents. Related researches suggest a possible correlation between addiction and the occurrence of NSSI. This study aimed to explore the correlation between addiction and NSSI from a molecular biological perspective by analyzing the differential expression of addiction-related genes in NSSI patients.

Methods: (1) The association between addiction and non-suicidal self-injury in a Chinese adolescent population was verified with the help of questionnaires on substance and non-substance addictions and non-suicidal self-injury among 1,329 adolescents in China, (2) Screening for key genes associated with addiction by bioinformatics analysis, and (3) RT-qPCR experiment was performed to validate key genes and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves were plotted for target genes.

Results: (1) Substance and non-substance addictions were all significantly correlated with non-suicidal self-injury, (2) Four target genes: SERPINA3, SLC14A1, RPS6 and RPS3A were screened by bioinformatics technique, and (3) Relative quantitative analysis by RT-qPCR revealed that the expression levels of SLC14A1 (p < 0.01), RPS6 (p < 0.05) and RPS3A (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in NSSI patients than in healthy controls.

Conclusion: (1) The significant association between addiction and NSSI exists in the Chinese adolescent population and (2) Addiction-related genes SLC14A1, RPS6, and RPS3A are differentially expressed in adolescents with NSSI. The genes have the potential to become biological markers for the diagnosis of NSSI.

Keywords: addiction; bioinformatics; biomarker; genes; non-suicidal self-injury.