BACKGROUND: Aggressive behavior is a highly prevalent and serious public health problem among adolescents. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of aggressive behavior remain unclear. Childhood maltreatment is an acknowledged factor for aggressive behavior. SIRT1 is closely related to the occurrence and development of psychiatric disorders. We aimed to reveal the interactive effect between SIRT1 and childhood maltreatment on aggressive behavior among Chinese adolescents.
METHODS: Aggressive behavior and childhood maltreatment were evaluated by the Buss and Warren's Aggression Questionnaire (BWAQ) and short form Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), respectively. This study comprised 436 aggression cases and 435 controls. Four SIRT1 tagSNPs were selected for genotyping. Interaction between SIRT1 and childhood maltreatment was estimated by logistic regression models.
RESULTS: Individuals carrying SIRT1 rs4746720 minor allele and TAAC haplotype derived from SIRT1 variants was associated with reduced aggression risk when childhood maltreatment occurred (all P < 0.01). An antagonistic additive interaction between SIRT1 rs4746720 and childhood maltreatment on aggressive behavior (S = 0.421; 95%CI: 0.234 to 0.758) was further testified. No main effect of the SIRT1 SNPs or the haplotype block was observed (all P > 0.05). LIMITATIONS: Since participants were only males, our findings were unable to be directly extended to females. Cross-sectional design, self-reported measurements and limited sample size were adopted.
CONCLUSION: This study provides the first evidence of SIRT1 × childhood maltreatment interaction on aggressive behavior in male adolescents. The minor allele of SIRT1 rs4746720 presents a protective effect on combination with childhood maltreatment on the risk of aggressive behavior.