title: Apolipoprotein E and B polymorphisms--longevity factors assessed in nonagenarians.
abstract: To test if the prevalence of genetic risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) is low in individuals who have reached an extremely old age, the allele frequencies of apolipoprotein E (apo E) and B (apo B) polymorphisms and plasma lipoprotein(a) levels were investigated in nonagenarians and in younger control groups. The frequency of the epsilon 4 allele of apo E was significantly lower in the nonagenarians than in the middle-aged and young adults (P < 0.05). Also, the frequency of EcoRI allele R- of apo B was low in the nonagenarians, whereas the allele frequency for the XbaI polymorphism of apo B and plasma lipoprotein(a) concentrations did not differ between the nonagenarians and the younger groups. These findings strongly suggest that the presence of these potential genetic risk factors for CHD, namely the epsilon 4 allele of apo E and the R- allele of apo B, decreases the probability of an individual reaching an extremely old age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kervinen
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Savolainen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salokannel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hynninen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heikkinen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ehnholm
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Koistinen
authors.forename: Y A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Kesäniemi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000235:genetics*; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D017270:Lipoprotein(a) / Q000097:blood; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D017270:Lipoprotein(a)