Research paperAssociation of genetic variations in the serotonin and dopamine systems with aggressive behavior in the Chinese adolescent population: Single- and multiple-risk genetic variants

•Rs16859448 TT genotype in FEV was significantly associated with increased susceptibility to aggressive behavior in the Chinese adolescent population.•Haplotype analysis indicated variations in DRD3/4 were mildly associated with aggression.•The classification and regression tree analysis revealed a prediction value of gene-gene interactions among the DRD3, DRD4, and FEV.

BackgroundGenetic predisposition is an important factor leading to aggressive behavior. However, the relationship between genetic polymorphisms and aggressive behavior has not been elucidated.MethodsWe identified candidate genes located in the dopaminergic and serotonin system (DRD3, DRD4, and FEV) that had been previously reported to be associated with aggressive behavior. We investigated 14 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using a multi-analytic strategy combining logistic regression (LR) and classification and regression tree (CART) to explore higher-order interactions between these SNPs and aggressive behavior in 318 patients and 558 controls.ResultsBoth LR and CART analyses suggested that the rs16859448 polymorphism is the strongest individual factor associated with aggressive behavior risk. In CART analysis, individuals carrying the combined genotypes of rs16859448TT/GT-rs11246228CT/TT-rs3773679TT had the highest risk, while rs16859448GG-rs2134655CT had the lowest risk (OR = 5.25, 95% CI: 2.53-10.86).ConclusionThis study adds to the growing evidence on the association of single- and multiple-risk variants in DRD3, DRD4, and FEV with aggressive behavior in Chinese adolescents. However, the aggressive behavior scale used to diagnose aggression in this study did not account for comorbid conditions; therefore, further studies are needed to confirm our observations.