Does the longevity of one or both parents influence the health status of their offspring?

Increasing number of long-lived ancestors marks a decade of healthspan extension and healthier metabolomics profiles

Globally, the lifespan of populations increases but the healthspan is lagging behind. Previous research showed that survival into extreme ages (longevity) clusters in families as illustrated by the increasing lifespan of study participants with each additional long-lived family member. Here we investigate whether the healthspan in such families follows a similar quantitative pattern using three-generational data from two databases, LLS (Netherlands), and SEDD (Sweden). We study healthspan in 2143 families containing index persons with 26 follow-up years and two ancestral generations, comprising 17,539 persons. Our results provide strong evidence that an increasing number of long-lived ancestors associates with up to a decade of healthspan extension. Further evidence indicates that members of long-lived families have a delayed onset of medication use, multimorbidity and, in mid-life, healthier metabolomic profiles than their partners. We conclude that both lifespan and healthspan are quantitatively linked to ancestral longevity, making family data invaluable to identify protective mechanisms of multimorbidity.

Effect of Familial Longevity on Frailty and Sarcopenia: A Case-Control Study

Familial longevity confers advantages in terms of health, functionality, and longevity. We sought to assess potential differences in frailty and sarcopenia in older adults according to a parental history of extraordinary longevity. A total of 176 community-dwelling subjects aged 65-80 years were recruited in this observational case-control study, pair-matched 1:1 for gender, age, and place of birth and residence: 88 centenarians' offspring (case group) and 88 non-centenarians' offspring (control group). The main variables were frailty and sarcopenia based on Fried's phenotype and the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) definitions, respectively. Sociodemographics, comorbidities, clinical and functional variables, the presence of geriatric syndromes, and laboratory parameters were also collected. Related sample tests were applied, and conditional logistic regression was performed. Cases had a higher percentage of robust patients (31.8% vs. 15.9%), lower percentages of frailty (9.1% vs. 21.6%) and pre-frailty (59.1% vs. 62.5%) (p = 0.001), and lower levels of IL-6 (p = 0.044) than controls. The robust adjusted OR for cases was 3.00 (95% CI = 1.06-8.47, p = 0.038). No significant differences in muscle mass were found. Familial longevity was also associated with less obesity, insomnia, pain, and polypharmacy and a higher education level and total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The results suggest an inherited genetic component in the frailty phenotype, while the sarcopenia association with familial longevity remains challenging.

BMI, Blood Pressure, and Plasma Lipids among Centenarians and Their Offspring

Background

The burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is increasing substantially due to population growth and aging. Determining effective prevention and understanding the underlying mechanisms remain desirable pursuits for increasing the quality of life. As centenarians and their offspring may have genetic advantages, they may present with healthier cardiovascular-related profiles.

Methods

We launched a cross-sectional household-based survey of centenarian families, including 253 centenarians, 217 centenarian offspring, and 116 offspring spouses without centenarian parents from county-level Chinese longevity city Rugao. Among offspring and offspring spouses were the following arrangements: 101 paired offspring and offspring spouses who lived together, 116 unpaired offspring, and 16 unpaired spouses. We investigated their cardiovascular-related health status including waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and plasma lipids and compared results among centenarians, centenarian offspring, and offspring spouses.

Results

Centenarians ranged from 99 to 109 years with a median age of 100 years. Centenarian offspring, with a median age of 70 years, and offspring spouses, with a median age of 69 years, shared similar age. Results of blood pressure, plasma lipid levels, and BMI displayed no significant difference between centenarian offspring and offspring spouses. However, centenarians appeared to have lower waist circumference, BMI, TC, LDL-C, TG, and diastolic blood pressure but higher levels of systolic blood pressure (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia was similar between centenarian offspring and offspring spouses, while centenarians appeared to have a lower prevalence of obesity and a higher prevalence of hypertension (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Centenarians and centenarian offspring did not present healthier BMI, blood pressure, or plasma lipids than offspring spouses. Further research on longevity and cardiovascular diseases are desirable.

Thyroid hormones and frailty in persons experiencing extreme longevity

CONTEXT

The aging phenotype is quite heterogeneous, being the result of the capability of each individual to successfully or unsuccessfully response to stressors. The reduction of homeostatic reserve characterizing aging is accompanied by a remodeling of the endocrine system. Frailty has been indicated as a promising way for capturing the physiological decline as well as the biological aging of the individuals. In particular, the Frailty Index (FI), based on the assumption that health deficits tend to accumulate with aging, represents a quantitative measure of extreme interest.

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to correlate the thyroid hormone levels with FI in a population of centenarians and their offspring to capture the effects of thyroid remodeling in extreme longevity.

STUDY DESIGN

The study described 593 well-characterized Italian subjects, including 180 centenarians, as well as 276 centenarian's offspring and 137 age-matched controls.

RESULTS

FT3 levels and FT3/FT4 ratio were significantly lower (p < 0.001) and TSH levels higher (p < 0.001) in centenarians compared to the other groups, analysing both overall subjects and excluding subjects with hormone levels out of the normal ranges. In overall centenarians, we observed a negative correlation between FI and FT3 (ρ: -0.281, p < 0.001), FT3/FT4 (ρ: -0.344, p < 0.001) and TSH (ρ: -0.223, p 0.003) and a positive association between FI and FT4 (ρ: 0.189, p = 0.001). In centenarians with hormone levels within the normal ranges, similar negative correlations were observed between FI and FT3 (ρ: -0.201, p = 0.02) and FT3/FT4 (ρ: -0.264, p = 0.002). In this sub-analysis, FI positively correlated with FT4 and age (ρ: 0.167, p = 0.05; ρ: 0.219, p = 0.005, respectively). Conversely, no significant correlations were observed between hormone levels and FI in offspring and controls.

CONCLUSIONS

We found an association between thyroid hormone levels and frailty in centenarians, underlying the significant role of thyroid in the aging process and longevity.

The Frailty Index in centenarians and their offspring

Frailty has been indicated as a way for capturing biological aging of the individual and Frailty Index (FI) may serve for this purpose. This study designed the FI in a cohort of centenarians, their offspring and control subjects sex- and age-matched with offspring. The FI mean value was 0.47 (SD 0.13) in centenarians, 0.15 (SD 0.12) in their offspring, and 0.22 (SD 0.14) in controls (p < 0.001). The difference between offspring and controls was statistically significant (p = 0.003). The correlation between FI and age was significant in offspring (r = 0.46, p < 0.001), close to significance in controls (r = 0.25, p = 0.08) and not significant in centenarians. Our study confirms that FI is a marker of biological age useful to discriminate different degrees of frailty even at extremely advanced age.

Genetics of Human Longevity Within an Eco-Evolutionary Nature-Nurture Framework

Human longevity is a complex trait, and to disentangle its basis has a great theoretical and practical consequences for biomedicine. The genetics of human longevity is still poorly understood despite several investigations that used different strategies and protocols. Here, we argue that such rather disappointing harvest is largely because of the extraordinary complexity of the longevity phenotype in humans. The capability to reach the extreme decades of human lifespan seems to be the result of an intriguing mixture of gene-environment interactions. Accordingly, the genetics of human longevity is here described as a highly context-dependent phenomenon, within a new integrated, ecological, and evolutionary perspective, and is presented as a dynamic process, both historically and individually. The available literature has been scrutinized within this perspective, paying particular attention to factors (sex, individual biography, family, population ancestry, social structure, economic status, and education, among others) that have been relatively neglected. The strength and limitations of the most powerful and used tools, such as genome-wide association study and whole-genome sequencing, have been discussed, focusing on prominently emerged genes and regions, such as apolipoprotein E, Forkhead box O3, interleukin 6, insulin-like growth factor-1, chromosome 9p21, 5q33.3, and somatic mutations among others. The major results of this approach suggest that (1) the genetics of longevity is highly population specific; (2) small-effect alleles, pleiotropy, and the complex allele timing likely play a major role; (3) genetic risk factors are age specific and need to be integrated in the light of the geroscience perspective; (4) a close relationship between genetics of longevity and genetics of age-related diseases (especially cardiovascular diseases) do exist. Finally, the urgent need of a global approach to the largely unexplored interactions between the 3 genetics of human body, that is, nuclear, mitochondrial, and microbiomes, is stressed. We surmise that the comprehensive approach here presented will help in increasing the above-mentioned harvest.

Vitamin D in physiological and pathological aging: Lesson from centenarians

Vitamin D is a secosteroid hormone that exerts a pleiotropic action on a wide spectrum of tissues, apparatuses and systems. Thus, vitamin D has assumed an increasingly dominant role as a key determinant of biological mechanisms and specific clinical conditions. Older people frequently present vitamin D deficiency, a status potentially influencing several mechanisms responsible for different age-related diseases. Centenarians symbolize the ideal model for investigating the peculiar traits of longevity, as they have reached an age close to the estimated limit of the human lifespan. Interestingly, despite the profound heterogeneity of centenarians in terms of health status, all these people share the same condition of severe vitamin D deficiency, suggesting that they may have implemented a number of adaptive strategies to cope with the age-related physiological derangement of vitamin D metabolism. The lesson deriving from centenarians' experience suggests that: i) severe vitamin D deficiency does not preclude the possibility of reaching extreme longevity, ii) strategies to prevent hypovitaminosis D may be useful to slow down the processes of "fragilization" occurring in aged people, iii) beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation need to be confirmed regarding longevity.

ROLE of IGF-1 System in the Modulation of Longevity: Controversies and New Insights From a Centenarians' Perspective

Human aging is currently defined as a physiological decline of biological functions in the body with a continual adaptation to internal and external damaging. The endocrine system plays a major role in orchestrating cellular interactions, metabolism, growth, and aging. Several in vivo studies from worms to mice showed that downregulated activity of the GH/IGF-1/insulin pathway could be beneficial for the extension of human life span, whereas results are contradictory in humans. In the present review, we discuss the potential role of the IGF-1 system in modulation of longevity, hypothesizing that the endocrine and metabolic adaptation observed in centenarians and in mammals during caloric restriction may be a physiological strategy for extending lifespan through a slower cell growing/metabolism, a better physiologic reserve capacity, a shift of cellular metabolism from cell proliferation to repair activities and a decrease in accumulation of senescent cells. Therefore, understanding of the link between IGF-1/insulin system and longevity may have future clinical applications in promoting healthy aging and in Rehabilitation Medicine.

Sicilian centenarian offspring are more resistant to immune ageing

BACKGROUND

Immunosenescence constitutes a major indirect cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Previous analysis of immune signatures in a cohort of centenarian offspring showed an intermediate immunophenotype between age-matched and younger controls.

AIMS

To confirm and extend the previous studies performing further phenotypical analysis in centenarian offspring and controls.

METHODS

Analysis of Treg cells, γδ T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T cells, and senescent immune T cells was performed in centenarian offspring and controls.

RESULTS

We report significant differences between elderly and centenarian offspring in most of the studied subsets, showing that centenarian offspring subsets present an intermediate phenotyping between elderly and younger people.

CONCLUSION

The whole present data confirm and extend the previous results showing that centenarian offspring retain more youthful immunological parameters and that the exhaustion of the immune system is less evident than in elderly without centenarian parents, though further investigations are warranted.

Gender, aging and longevity in humans: an update of an intriguing/neglected scenario paving the way to a gender-specific medicine

Data showing a remarkable gender difference in life expectancy and mortality, including survival to extreme age, are reviewed starting from clinical and demographic data and stressing the importance of a comprehensive historical perspective and a gene–environment/lifestyle interaction. Gender difference regarding prevalence and incidence of the most important age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, disability, autoimmunity and infections, are reviewed and updated with particular attention to the role of the immune system and immunosenescence. On the whole, gender differences appear to be pervasive and still poorly considered and investigated despite their biomedical relevance. The basic biological mechanisms responsible for gender differences in aging and longevity are quite complex and still poorly understood. The present review focuses on centenarians and their offspring as a model of healthy aging and summarizes available knowledge on three basic biological phenomena, i.e. age-related X chromosome inactivation skewing, gut microbiome changes and maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA genetic variants. In conclusion, an appropriate gender-specific medicine approach is urgently needed and should be systematically pursued in studies on healthy aging, longevity and age-related diseases, in a globalized world characterized by great gender differences which have a high impact on health and diseases.

Circulating miRNAs and miRNA shuttles as biomarkers: Perspective trajectories of healthy and unhealthy aging

Human aging is a lifelong process characterized by a continuous trade-off between pro-and anti-inflammatory responses, where the best-adapted and/or remodeled genetic/epigenetic profile may develop a longevity phenotype. Centenarians and their offspring represent such a phenotype and their comparison to patients with age-related diseases (ARDs) is expected to maximize the chance to unravel the genetic makeup that better associates with healthy aging trajectories. Seemingly, such comparison is expected to allow the discovery of new biomarkers of longevity together with risk factor for the most common ARDs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and their shuttles (extracellular vesicles in particular) are currently conceived as those endowed with the strongest ability to provide information about the trajectories of healthy and unhealthy aging. We review the available data on miRNAs in aging and underpin the evidence suggesting that circulating miRNAs (and cognate shuttles), especially those involved in the regulation of inflammation (inflamma-miRs) may constitute biomarkers capable of reliably depicting healthy and unhealthy aging trajectories.

Centenarians' offspring as a model of healthy aging: a reappraisal of the data on Italian subjects and a comprehensive overview

Within the scenario of an increasing life expectancy worldwide it is mandatory to identify determinants of healthy aging. Centenarian offspring (CO) is one of the most informative model to identify trajectories of healthy aging and their determinants (genetic and environmental), being representative of elderly in their 70th whose lifestyle can be still modified to attain a better health. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of the health status of 267 CO (mean age: 70.2 years) and adopts the innovative approach of comparing CO with 107 age-matched offspring of non-long-lived parents (hereafter indicated as NCO controls), recruited according to strict inclusion demographic criteria of Italian population. We adopted a multidimensional approach which integrates functional and cognitive assessment together with epidemiological and clinical data, including pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and adipokines, lipid profile, and insulin resistance. CO have a lower prevalence of stroke, cerebral thrombosis-hemorrhage, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and other minor diseases, lower BMI and waist circumference, a better functional and cognitive status and lower plasma level of FT4 compared to NCO controls. We conclude that a multidimensional approach is a reliable strategy to identify the health status of elderly at an age when interventions to modify their health trajectory are feasible.

Identification of novel plasma glycosylation-associated markers of aging

The pro- or anti-inflammatory activities of immunoglobulins G (IgGs) are controlled by the structure of the glycan N-linked to Asn₂₉₇ of their heavy chain. The age-associated low grade inflammation (inflammaging) is associated with increased plasmatic levels of agalactosylated IgGs terminating with N-acetylglucosamine (IgG-G0) whose biogenesis has not been fully explained. Although the biosynthesis of glycans is in general mediated by glycosyltransferases associated with internal cell membranes, the extracellular glycosylation of circulating glycoproteins mediated by plasmatic glycosyltransferases has been recently demonstrated. In this study we have investigated the relationship between plasmatic glycosyltransferases, IgG glycosylation and inflammatory and aging markers. In cohorts of individuals ranging from infancy to centenarians we determined the activity of plasmatic β4 galactosyltransferase(s) (B4GALTs) and of α2,6-sialyltransferase ST6GAL1, the glycosylation of IgG, the GlycoAge test (a glycosylation-based marker of aging) and the plasma level of inflammatory and liver damage markers. Our results show that: 1) plasmatic B4GALTs activity is a new marker of aging, showing a linear increase throughout the whole age range. 2) plasmatic ST6GAL1 was high only in children and in people above 80, showing a quadratic relationship with age. 3) Neither plasmatic glycosyltransferase correlated with markers of liver damage. 4) plasmatic ST6GAL1 showed a positive association with acute phase proteins in offspring of short lived parents, but not in centenarians or in their offspring. 5) Although the glycosylation of IgGs was not correlated with the level of the two plasmatic glycosyltransferases, it showed progressive age-associated changes consistent with a shift toward a pro-inflammatory glycotype.

Is Parental Longevity Associated With the Cardiovascular Risk and the Successful Aging of Their Offspring? Results From the Multinational MEDIS Study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of parental longevity and parental cardiovascular disease (CVD) history in CVD risk and successful aging of a random sample of older adults living in the Mediterranean basin and who participated in the MEDiterranean Islands (MEDIS) study. During 2005 to 2011, 2663 elders were voluntarily enrolled. A multidimensional successful aging index consisting of 10 components was used. Paternal and maternal longevity was defined as those older participants of whom both parents lived above the age of 90. The burden of CVD-related factors (CVD-RFs) was calculated as the total score of 4 major CVD-RFs (range 0-4). After adjustment, parental longevity was inversely associated with the burden of CVD-RFs ( P = .04). Moreover, parental longevity was positively associated with the older adults' successful aging score (β-coefficient [95% confidence interval]: .38 [0.06-0.71]). Parent's long living was revealed as an important factor for successful aging and for reduced CVD risk, suggesting that further research is needed in the genetic predisposition of longevity.

Are Members of Long-Lived Families Healthier Than Their Equally Long-Lived Peers? Evidence From the Long Life Family Study

BACKGROUND

The Long Life Family Study (LLFS) is a multicenter longitudinal study of exceptional survival among members of long-lived sibships (probands), their offspring, and spouses of either group. For these four "roles", we asked: Does membership in a long-lived family protect against disease?

METHODS

We used 2008-2010 Beneficiary Annual Summary Files from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to compare prevalences of 17 conditions among 781 LLFS participants in Medicare with those of 3,227 non-LLFS matches from the general Medicare population. Analyses accounted for nesting within LLFS families.

RESULTS

Seven conditions were significantly less common among LLFS probands than their matches: Alzheimer's, hip fracture, diabetes, depression, prostate cancer, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. Four diseases not strongly linked to mortality (arthritis, cataract, osteoporosis, glaucoma) were significantly more common for LLFS probands. Despite fewer people and less disease in those roles, LLFS offspring and LLFS spouses of either generation also had significantly lower risk for Alzheimer's, diabetes, and heart failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Common, severe mortality-associated diseases are less prevalent among LLFS probands and their offspring than in the general population of aging Americans. Quality-of-life-limiting diseases such as arthritis and cataract are more prevalent, potentially through more diagnosing of milder forms in otherwise healthy and active individuals. LLFS spouses are also relatively healthy. As the younger cohorts age into Medicare and develop more conditions, it will be important to see whether these tentative findings strengthen.

Transmission from centenarians to their offspring of mtDNA heteroplasmy revealed by ultra-deep sequencing

The role that mtDNA heteroplasmy plays in healthy aging, familial longevity and the heritability patterns of low levels heteroplasmy in the elderly are largely unknown. We analyzed the low levels of mtDNA heteroplasmy in blood in a cohort of centenarians, their offspring and a group of offspring of non long-lived parents, characterized by a less favorable health phenotype. The aims of this study are to: (i) investigate the transmission of low level heteroplasmies in the elderly; (ii) explore the association of heteroplasmy with age and longevity and (iii) investigate heteroplasmy patterns in these three groups. We sequenced a 853 bp mtDNA fragment in 88 individuals to an average coverage of 49334-fold, using quality control filtering and triplicate PCR analysis to reduce any methodological bias, and we detected 119 heteroplasmic positions with a minor allele frequency ≥ 0.2%. The results indicate that low-level heteroplasmies are transmitted and maintained within families until extreme age. We did not find any heteroplasmic variant associated with longevity and healthy aging but we identified an unique heteroplasmy profile for each family, based on total level and positions. This familial profile suggests that heteroplasmy may contribute to familial longevity.

Genome maintenance and human longevity

Accumulation of DNA damage and mutations is considered an important causal factor in age-related diseases. Genetic defects in DNA repair cause premature onset and accelerated progression of age-related diseases and a shorter life span in humans and mice, providing strong evidence that genome maintenance is a bona fide longevity assurance pathway. However, the contribution of genome maintenance to human longevity itself remains to be established. Here, we review the results of human genetics studies, including genome wide association studies, and attempted to catalogue all genes involved in major DNA repair pathways that harbor variants associated with longevity. We hope to provide a comprehensive review to facilitate future endeavors aimed at uncovering the functional role of genome maintenance genes in human longevity.

Leukocyte telomere length and prevalence of age-related diseases in semisupercentenarians, centenarians and centenarians' offspring

Centenarians and their offspring are increasingly considered a useful model to study and characterize the mechanisms underlying healthy aging and longevity. The aim of this project is to compare the prevalence of age-related diseases and telomere length (TL), a marker of biological age and mortality, across five groups of subjects: semisupercentenarians (SSCENT) (105-109years old), centenarians (CENT) (100-104years old), centenarians' offspring (CO), age- and gender-matched offspring of parents who both died at an age in line with life expectancy (CT) and age- and gender-matched offspring of both non-long-lived parents (NLO). Information was collected on lifestyle, past and current diseases, medical history and medication use. SSCENT displayed a lower prevalence of acute myocardial infarction (p=0.027), angina (p=0.016) and depression (p=0.021) relative to CENT. CO appeared to be healthier compared to CT who, in turn, displayed a lower prevalence of both arrhythmia (p=0.034) and hypertension (p=0.046) than NLO, characterized by the lowest parental longevity. Interestingly, CO and SSCENT exhibited the longest (p<0.001) and the shortest (p<0.001) telomeres respectively while CENT showed no difference in TL compared to the younger CT and NLO. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that the longevity of parents may influence the health status of their offspring. Moreover, our data also suggest that both CENT and their offspring may be characterized by a better TL maintenance which, in turn, may contribute to their longevity and healthy aging. The observation that SSCENT showed considerable shorter telomeres compared to CENT may suggest a progressive impairment of TL maintenance mechanisms over the transition from centenarian to semisupercentenarian age.