title: Genetic study of high longevity index populations.
abstract: Five-year multidisciplinary study of longevity in the Georgian SSR made it possible to select two populations (Abkhazian and Imeretian), in which indices of longevity were much higher, than the average level for the rural population of the whole region. The distribution of polymorphic systems of red cell enzymes (adenilate kinase, esterase D, phosphoglucomutase I, acid phosphatase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, glyoxalase I, lactate dehydrogenase, adenosine deaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, phosphoglycolate phosphatase, phosphohexose isomerase) and serum proteins (haptoglobin, Gc-component and transferrin) was studied for genetic analysis of these populations. The results indicate that for all the studied loci the observed genotypic frequencies in both populations are distributed according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The genetic comparison of the studied populations with some other neighbouring populations did not reveal any genetic peculiarities and the both populations concord with the scheme of anthropological types of Hither Asia. The study of age-related changes of gene frequencies and heterozygosity showed some age-related fluctuations of genetic indices in all age groups, but the heterogeneous nature of these deviations indicate that they may be the result of random genetic processes.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D004798:Enzymes / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005846:Georgia (Republic); D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes