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Human longevity is a complex phenotype influenced by genetic and environmental components. Unraveling the contribution of genetic vs. nongenetic factors to longevity is a challenging task. Here, we conducted a large-scale RNA-sequencing-based expression quantitative trait loci study ( eQTL) with subsequent heritability analysis. The investigation was performed on blood samples from 244 individuals from Germany and Denmark, representing various age groups including long-lived subjects up to the age of 104 years. Our eQTL-based approach revealed for the first time that human longevity is associated with a depletion of metabolic pathways in a genotype-dependent and independent manner. Further analyses indicated that 20% of the differentially expressed genes are influenced by genetic variants in cis. The subsequent study of twins showed that the transcriptional activity of a third of the differentially regulated genes is heritable. These findings suggest that longevity-associated biological processes such as altered metabolism are, to a certain extent, also the driving force of longevity rather than just a consequence of old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human longevity is characterized by a remarkable lack of confirmed genetic associations. Here, we report on the identification of a novel locus for longevity in the RAD50/ IL13 region on chromosome 5q31.1 using a combined European sample of 3208 long-lived individuals ( LLI) and 8919 younger controls. First, we performed a large-scale association study on 1458 German LLI (mean age 99.0 years) and 6368 controls (mean age 57.2 years) by targeting known immune-associated loci covered by the Immunochip. The analysis of 142 136 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) revealed an Immunochip-wide significant signal ( PImmunochip = 7.01 × 10-9) for the SNP rs2075650 in the TOMM40/ APOE region, which has been previously described in the context of human longevity. To identify novel susceptibility loci, we selected 15 markers with PImmunochip < 5 × 10-4 for replication in two samples from France (1257 LLI, mean age 102.4 years; 1811 controls, mean age 49.1 years) and Denmark (493 LLI, mean age 96.2 years; 740 controls, mean age 63.1 years). The association at SNP rs2706372 replicated in the French study collection and showed a similar trend in the Danish participants and was also significant in a meta-analysis of the combined French and Danish data after adjusting for multiple testing. In a meta-analysis of all three samples, rs2706372 reached a P-value of PImmunochip+Repl = 5.42 × 10−7 ( OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.12-1.28). SNP rs2706372 is located in the extended RAD50/ IL13 region. RAD50 seems a plausible longevity candidate due to its involvement in DNA repair and inflammation. Further studies are needed to identify the functional variant(s) that predispose(s) to a long and healthy life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Identification of variants within genes SLC23A1 and SLC23A2 coding for vitamin C transporter proteins associated with aggressive (AgP) and chronic periodontitis ( CP). Material and Methods Employment of three independent case-control samples of AgP (I. 283 cases, 979 controls; II. 417 cases, 1912 controls; III. 164 cases, 357 controls) and one sample of CP (1359 cases, 1296 controls). Results Stage 1: Among the tested single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs), the rare allele ( RA) of rs6596473 in SLC23A1 showed nominal significant association with AgP ( p = 0.026, odds ratio [ OR] 1.26, and a highly similar minor allele frequency between different control panels. Stage 2: rs6596473 showed no significant association with AgP in the replication with the German and Dutch case-control samples. After pooling the German AgP populations (674 cases, 2891 controls) to significantly increase the statistical power ( SP = 0.81), rs6596473 RA showed significant association with AgP prior to and upon adjustment with the covariates smoking and gender with padj = 0.005, OR = 1.35. Stage 3: RA of rs6596473 showed no significant association with severe CP. Conclusion SNP rs6596473 of SLC23A1 is suggested to be associated with AgP. These results add to previous reports that vitamin C plays a role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clear evidence exists for heritability of human longevity, and much interest is focused on identifying genes associated with longer lives. To identify such longevity alleles, we performed the largest genome-wide linkage scan thus far reported. Linkage analyses included 2118 nonagenarian Caucasian sibling pairs that have been enrolled in 15 study centers of 11 European countries as part of the Genetics of Healthy Aging ( GEHA) project. In the joint linkage analyses, we observed four regions that show linkage with longevity; chromosome 14q11.2 ( LOD = 3.47), chromosome 17q12-q22 ( LOD = 2.95), chromosome 19p13.3-p13.11 ( LOD = 3.76), and chromosome 19q13.11-q13.32 ( LOD = 3.57). To fine map these regions linked to longevity, we performed association analysis using GWAS data in a subgroup of 1228 unrelated nonagenarian and 1907 geographically matched controls. Using a fixed-effect meta-analysis approach, at the TOMM40/ APOE/ APOC1 gene locus showed significant association with longevity ( P-value = 9.6 × 10−8). By combined modeling of linkage and association, we showed that association of longevity with APOEε4 and APOEε2 alleles explain the linkage at 19q13.11-q13.32 with P-value = 0.02 and P-value = 1.0 × 10−5, respectively. In the largest linkage scan thus far performed for human familial longevity, we confirm that the APOE locus is a longevity gene and that additional longevity loci may be identified at 14q11.2, 17q12-q22, and 19p13.3-p13.11. As the latter linkage results are not explained by common variants, we suggest that rare variants play an important role in human familial longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Identification of variants within genes SLC23A1 and SLC23A2 coding for vitamin C transporter proteins associated with aggressive (AgP) and chronic periodontitis (CP)., Material and Methods: Employment of three independent case-control samples of AgP (I. 283 cases, 979 controls; II. 417 cases, 1912 controls; III. 164 cases, 357 controls) and one sample of CP (1359 cases, 1296 controls)., Results: Stage 1: Among the tested single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the rare allele (RA) of rs6596473 in SLC23A1 showed nominal significant association with AgP (p = 0.026, odds ratio [OR] 1.26, and a highly similar minor allele frequency between different control panels. Stage 2: rs6596473 showed no significant association with AgP in the replication with the German and Dutch case-control samples. After pooling the German AgP populations (674 cases, 2891 controls) to significantly increase the statistical power (SP = 0.81), rs6596473 RA showed significant association with AgP prior to and upon adjustment with the covariates smoking and gender with padj  = 0.005, OR = 1.35. Stage 3: RA of rs6596473 showed no significant association with severe CP., Conclusion: SNP rs6596473 of SLC23A1 is suggested to be associated with AgP. These results add to previous reports that vitamin C plays a role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)