Variants in the SIRT1 gene may affect diabetes risk in interaction with prenatal exposure to famine.

Objective: To investigate whether SIRT1, a nutrient-sensing histone deacetylase, influences fetal programming during malnutrition.

Research Design And Methods: In 793 individuals of the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort, we analyzed the interaction between three SIRT1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and prenatal exposure to famine on type 2 diabetes risk.

Results: In the total population (exposed and unexposed), SIRT1 variants were not associated with type 2 diabetes. A significant interaction was found between two SIRT1 SNPs and exposure to famine in utero on type 2 diabetes risk (P = 0.03 for rs7895833; P = 0.01 for rs1467568). Minor alleles of these SNPs were associated with a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes only in individuals who had been exposed to famine prenatally (odds ratio for rs7895833 0.50 [95% CI 0.24-1.03], P = 0.06; for rs1467568 0.48 [0.25-0.91], P = 0.02).

Conclusions: SIRT1 may be an important genetic factor involved in fetal programming during malnutrition, influencing type 2 diabetes risk later in life.