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

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

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1126615

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1126615

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>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.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>(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.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>(1) Substance and non-substance addictions were all significantly correlated with non-suicidal self-injury, (2) Four target genes: <italic>SERPINA3</italic>, <italic>SLC14A1</italic>, <italic>RPS6</italic> and <italic>RPS3A</italic> were screened by bioinformatics technique, and (3) Relative quantitative analysis by RT-qPCR revealed that the expression levels of <italic>SLC14A1</italic> (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01), <italic>RPS6</italic> (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) and <italic>RPS3A</italic> (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) were significantly higher in NSSI patients than in healthy controls.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>(1) The significant association between addiction and NSSI exists in the Chinese adolescent population and (2) Addiction-related genes <italic>SLC14A1</italic>, <italic>RPS6</italic>, and <italic>RPS3A</italic> are differentially expressed in adolescents with NSSI. The genes have the potential to become biological markers for the diagnosis of NSSI.</p></sec>