title: Influence of major histocompatibility complex region genes on human longevity among Okinawan-Japanese centenarians and nonagenarians.
abstract: The frequencies of 80 HLA antigen phenotypes in 82 centenarians and 20 nonagenarians in Okinawa, Japan, were compared with those in other healthy adults in various age-brackets. Subjects aged over 90 had an extremely low frequency of HLA-DRw9 and an increased frequency of DR1. In this age-group the relative risk of corrected (for number of antigens) p value for HLA-DRw9 were 5.2 and 0.0001, respectively; those for HLA-DR1 were 13.3 and 0.0367, respectively. Since a high frequency of DRw9 and a low frequency of DR1 are associated with autoimmune or immune deficiency diseases, the genetic protection against these disorders may contribute to longevity.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006681:HLA-D Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D006681:HLA-D Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens