Abstract
Several studies suggest that the reduction of total cholesterol in blood by lipid-lowering
agents is accompanied by a decrease in the incidence of coronary heart disease, but
not in total mortality. Likewise, epidemiological studies show that low total cholesterol
concentrations appear to be associated with an increased risk of death from suicide
and injuries. There is little information with respect to acute suicidality and cholesterol
in psychiatric inpatients; therefore the aim of the present study was to examine exactly
this relation between plasma cholesterol and acute suicidality. The study comprised
45 acutely suicidal psychiatric inpatients, 95 nonsuicidal inpatients with affective
disorder, and 20 healthy subjects. Psychopathological measures (Brief Psychiatric
Rating Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Beck's Suicide Intent Scale) were
established in these patients as well as the plasma concentrations of cholesterol
in patients and healthy subjects. The most important finding of this study is that
the risk of acute suicidality decreases with increasing total cholesterol levels irrespective
of age, gender, and nutritional status (i.e., body mass index). Comparison of total
cholesterol levels between age- and sex-matched suicidal and nonsuicidal patients
with affective disorder supports this observation: Despite the slightly higher body
mass index, suicidal patients have significantly lower cholesterol levels than nonsuicidal
patients. Our findings support the notion that acute suicidality is associated with
low plasma cholesterol; this observation needs to be further studied in the context
of a biological marker for suicide risk.
