Evidence for increased completed suicide in first-degree relatives of LRRK2 G2019S mutation Parkinson’s disease

Mutations in the l eucine-rich repeat kinase 2 ( LRRK2 ) gene are an important monogenic cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Reported non-motor features of LRRK2 PD include depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder,1 but suicide has not been systematically investigated. As part of our LRRK2 Ashkenazi Jewish Consortium study we assessed the history of death by suicide in probands and first-degree relatives with and without LRRK2 G2019S mutations. The sample comprised participants from the Ashkenazi Jewish LRRK2 Consortium study sites in Tel Aviv (Tel Aviv Medical Center) and New York (Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Mount Sinai Beth Israel).2 PD probands were screened for the LRRK2 G2019S mutation.3 Genetic status of the first-degree relatives was not known. Questionnaire and pedigree information was systematically collected on LRRK2 PD and non- LRRK2 mutation, idiopathic PD (IPD) probands, and evaluated for suicide as cause of death among first-degree relatives. The odds of suicide among first-degree relatives was compared using a logistic generalised estimating equation, accounting for family membership, site and sex using Stata V.14 (StataCorp, 2015, Stata Statistical Software: Release 14. College Station, TX). No LRRK2 PD or IPD was known to commit suicide during the course of the study. (Study follow-up ranged from 0 to 5 years, and the mean duration among those with at least one follow-up visit was 3.4 years). LRRK2 PD probands were more likely to report a death in a first-degree …