Prostaglandin synthesis among alcoholic suicide attempters and nonattempters

Serum PGF2 alpha titers were examined in 8 sober alcoholic males who had attempted suicide and 19 nonattempting alcoholic males. Two of the 8 attempters had used violent means and the remaining 6 had used nonviolent means. The suicide attempters had significantly lower PGF2 alpha titers, relative to the nonattempters (p less than 0.005), with the violent attempters expressing maximally reduced titers. There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to age, alcohol consumption patterns, or admission scores on the Beck Depression Inventory.