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

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. (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. (1) Substance and non-substance addictions were all significantly correlated with non-suicidal self-injury, (2) Four target genes: , , and were screened by bioinformatics technique, and (3) Relative quantitative analysis by RT-qPCR revealed that the expression levels of (