0000000000084355
AUTHOR
Massimiliano Bonafè
HLA, aging, and longevity: a critical reappraisal.
Despite a large number of studies, available data do not allow at present to reach definitive and clear conclusions on role of HLA on longevity, owing to major methodological problems, such as serological and molecular typing of different loci, insufficient sample sizes, different inclusion criteria and age cut-off, inappropriate mixing of data referred to people from 58 to over 100 years of age, inappropriate control matching, and neglected consideration of sex-related effects and the different genetic make-up of studied populations. However, within this confused scenario, some data emerge. First, two studies that do not fit the biases above discussed show that some HLA alleles are associa…
Allele frequencies of +874T→A single nucleotide polymorphism at the first intron of interferon-γ gene in a group of Italian centenarians
Ageing is characterized by a pro-inflammatory status which could contribute to the onset of major age-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegeneration, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and diabetes. Thus, it can be hypothesized that genetic variations in pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines might influence successful ageing and longevity. We have studied the distribution of +874T--A interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) polymorphisms in a large number of Italian centenarians to evaluate if the two alleles might be differently represented in people selected for longevity. DNA samples were obtained from 174 Italian centenarians (99 years old, 142 women and 32 men) and from 24860-year…
Gender-specific association between -1082 IL-10 promoter polymorphism and longevity.
Ageing is characterized by a pro-inflammatory status, which could contribute to the onset of major age-related diseases. Thus, genetic variations in pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines might influence successful ageing and longevity. IL-10 is an appropriate candidate because it exerts powerful inhibitory effects on pro-inflammatory function. IL-10 production is controlled by several polymorphic elements in the 5' flanking region of IL-10 gene on 1q32 locus, involving alleles at two microsatellite regions and several polymorphisms in promoter region. We analysed in 190 Italian centenarians (99 years old, 159 women and 31 men) and in 26060 years old control subjects (99 women and 161 men), ma…
Inflammation, genetics, and longevity: further studies on the protective effects in men of IL-10 -1082 promoter SNP and its interaction with TNF-alpha -308 promoter SNP.
Ageing is associated with chronic, low grade inflammatory activity leading to long term tissue damage, and systemic chronic inflammation has been found to be related to mortality risk from all causes in older persons.1 Also, the genetic constitution of the organism interacting with systemic inflammation may cause defined organ specific illnesses. Thus, age related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, sarcopenia, and osteoporosis, are initiated or worsened by systemic inflammation, suggesting the critical importance of unregulated systemic inflammation in the shortening of survival in humans.1–3 Accordingly, proinflammatory cytokin…
Immunogenetics of longevity. Is major histocompatibility complex polymorphism relevant to the control of human longevity? A review of literature data.
Literature data suggest that human longevity may be directly correlated with optimal functioning of the immune system. Therefore, it is likely that one of the genetic determinants of longevity resides in those polymorphisms for the immune system genes that regulate immune responses. Accordingly, studies performed on mice have suggested that the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), known to control a variety of immune functions, is associated with the life span of the strains. In the last 25 years, a fair number of cross-sectional studies that searched for the role of HLA (the human MHC) genes on human longevity by comparing HLA antigen frequencies between groups of young and elderly pers…
Circulating miRNAs and miRNA shuttles as biomarkers: Perspective trajectories of healthy and unhealthy aging
Human aging is a lifelong process characterized by a continuous trade-off between pro-and anti-inflammatory responses, where the best-adapted and/or remodeled genetic/epigenetic profile may develop a longevity phenotype. Centenarians and their offspring represent such a phenotype and their comparison to patients with age-related diseases (ARDs) is expected to maximize the chance to unravel the genetic makeup that better associates with healthy aging trajectories. Seemingly, such comparison is expected to allow the discovery of new biomarkers of longevity together with risk factor for the most common ARDs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and their shuttles (extracellular vesicles in particular) are curre…
The role of IL-1 gene cluster in longevity: a study in Italian population.
In this study, we analysed the polymorphic variants of IL-1alpha (C-T transition at position -889), IL-1beta (C-T transition at position -511) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (Ra) (86-bp repeated sequence in intron 2) in 1131 subjects (453 females and 678 males) from Northern and Central Italy, including 134 centenarians, to evaluate whether IL-1 cluster alleles might be differently represented in people selected for longevity. In addition, IL-1Ra and IL-1beta plasma levels were quantified by ELISA in 130 randomly selected subjects. No significant differences in the genotype and allele frequency distributions were observed between young, elderly and centenarian subjects. IL-1Ra plasma levels s…