title: The influence of gender on inheritance of exceptional longevity.
abstract: While the search for genetic contributors to exceptional longevity has yielded candidates, gender differences in inheritance have generally not been considered. The aim of this study was to investigate gender specific differences in the inheritance of exceptional longevity. Using a standardized questionnaire, we assessed the parental ages of death of Ashkenazi Jews with exceptional longevity and their spouses without exceptional longevity, who served as controls (n=1,114). Mothers of centenarian males and females had significantly longer lifespans compared to the mothers of non-centenarians, 79.0 ± 13.4 vs. 73.0 ± 16.3 years, p <0.01 and 75.7 ± 15.8 vs. 70.5 ± 18.0 years, p=0.02, respectively. There was also a trend toward longer lifespan among the fathers of centenarian men compared to the lifespan of fathers of non-centenarian men, 73.5 ± 17.0 vs. 69.5 ±15.0 years, p=0.07. The lifespan did not differ between the fathers of centenarian and non-centenarian daughters. Logistic regression models revealed that the odds of being a centenarian for the female and male offspring increased by 21% and 31%, respectively, for every additional 10 years of life achieved by the mother (p <0.05). These findings support a gender-specific inheritance pattern of human longevity and may help focus the search for longevity genes.
authors.affiliation: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Deluty
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Department of Biology and Human Biology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Atzmon
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crandall
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barzilai
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.|Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Sofiya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Milman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: centenarians; gender; inheritance; longevity