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Gavrilova NS, Gavrilov LA. Compensation effect of mortality is a challenge to substantial lifespan extension of humans. Biogerontology 2024:10.1007/s10522-024-10111-z. [PMID: 38811415 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-024-10111-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Despite frequent claims regarding radical extensions of human lifespan in the near future, many pragmatic scientists caution against excessive and baseless optimism on this front. In this study, we examine the compensation effect of mortality (CEM) as a potential challenge to substantial lifespan extension. The CEM is an empirical mortality regularity, often depicted as relative mortality convergence at advanced ages. Analysis of mortality data from 44 human populations, available in the Human Mortality Database, demonstrated that CEM can be represented as a continuous decline in relative mortality variation (assessed through the coefficient of variation and the standard deviation of the logarithm of mortality) with age, reaching a minimum corresponding to the species-specific lifespan. Through this method, the species-specific lifespan is determined to be 96-97 years, closely aligning with estimates derived from correlations between Gompertz parameters (95-98 years). Importantly, this representation of CEM can be achieved non-parametrically, eliminating the need for estimating Gompertz parameters. CEM is a challenge to lifespan extension, because it suggests that the true aging rate in humans (based on loss of vital elements, e.g., functional cells) remains stable at approximately 1% per year in the majority of human populations and is not affected by environmental or familial longevity factors. Given this rate of functional cell loss, one might anticipate that the total pool of functional cells could be entirely depleted by the age of 115-120 years creating physiological limit to human lifespan. Mortality pattern of supercentenarians (110 + years) aligns with this prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia S Gavrilova
- NORC at the University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
- Institute for Demographic Research, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Leonid A Gavrilov
- NORC at the University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
- Institute for Demographic Research, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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Galvin A, Pedersen JK, Wojczynski MK, Ukraintseva S, Arbeev K, Feitosa M, Province MA, Christensen K. The Protective Effect of Familial Longevity Persists After Age 100: Findings From the Danish National Registers. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2024; 79:glad164. [PMID: 37449765 PMCID: PMC10733167 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glad164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A recent study suggested that the protective effect of familial longevity becomes negligible for centenarians. However, the authors assessed the dependence on familial longevity in centenarians by comparing centenarians with 1 parent surviving to age 80+ to centenarians whose same-sexed parent did not survive to age 80. Here we test whether the protective effect of familial longevity persists after age 100 using more restrictive definitions of long-lived families. METHODS Long-lived sibships were identified through 3 nationwide, consecutive studies in Denmark, including families with either at least 2 siblings aged 90+ or a Family Longevity Selection Score (FLoSS) above 7. Long-lived siblings enrolled in these studies and who reached age 100 were included. For each sibling, 5 controls matched on sex and year of birth were randomly selected among centenarians in the Danish population. Survival time from age 100 was described with Kaplan-Meier curves for siblings and controls separately. Survival analyses were performed using stratified Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS A total of 340 individuals from long-lived sibships who survived to age 100 and 1 700 controls were included. Among the long-lived siblings and controls, 1 650 (81%) were women. The results showed that long-lived siblings presented better overall survival after age 100 than sporadic long-livers (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.71-0.91), with even lower estimate (HR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.50-0.85) if familial longevity was defined by FLoSS. CONCLUSIONS The present study, with virtually no loss to follow-up, demonstrated a persistence of protective effect of familial longevity after age 100.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angéline Galvin
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography Team, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Jacob Krabbe Pedersen
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography Team, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- The Danish Aging Research Center, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Mary K Wojczynski
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Svetlana Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Konstantin Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Mary Feitosa
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Michael A Province
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography Team, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- The Danish Aging Research Center, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
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van den Berg N, Rodríguez-Girondo M, van Dijk IK, Slagboom PE, Beekman M. Increasing number of long-lived ancestors marks a decade of healthspan extension and healthier metabolomics profiles. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4518. [PMID: 37500622 PMCID: PMC10374564 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40245-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niels van den Berg
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, section of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, the Netherlands.
- Centre for Economic Demography, Department of Economic History, Lund University, Scheelevägen 15B, 223 63, Lund, Sweden.
| | - Mar Rodríguez-Girondo
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, section of Medical Statistics, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Ingrid K van Dijk
- Centre for Economic Demography, Department of Economic History, Lund University, Scheelevägen 15B, 223 63, Lund, Sweden
| | - P Eline Slagboom
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, section of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9b, D-50931, Cologne, Germany
| | - Marian Beekman
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, section of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, the Netherlands
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Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. On the Commentary by Anatoly I. Mikhalsky Published in Biochemistry (Moscow), Vol. 88, No. 1, pp. 162-163 (2023). BIOCHEMISTRY (MOSCOW) 2023; 88:289. [PMID: 37072334 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297923020116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
Caution is needed in using cohort data when studying age-related mortality dynamics, because mortality depends not only on age, but also on the changing living conditions over time. A hypothesis is proposed for further testing that the actuarial aging rate may even decrease in more recent birth cohorts of people due to improved living conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonid A Gavrilov
- Academic Research Centers, NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
- Institute for Demographic Research, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 109028, Russia
| | - Natalia S Gavrilova
- Academic Research Centers, NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Institute for Demographic Research, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 109028, Russia
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Quinlan RA, Clark JI. Insights into the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms mediating the longevity of the transparent optics of the eye lens. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102537. [PMID: 36174677 PMCID: PMC9638808 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the human eye, a transparent cornea and lens combine to form the "refracton" to focus images on the retina. This requires the refracton to have a high refractive index "n," mediated largely by extracellular collagen fibrils in the corneal stroma and the highly concentrated crystallin proteins in the cytoplasm of the lens fiber cells. Transparency is a result of short-range order in the spatial arrangement of corneal collagen fibrils and lens crystallins, generated in part by post-translational modifications (PTMs). However, while corneal collagen is remodeled continuously and replaced, lens crystallins are very long-lived and are not replaced and so accumulate PTMs over a lifetime. Eventually, a tipping point is reached when protein aggregation results in increased light scatter, inevitably leading to the iconic protein condensation-based disease, age-related cataract (ARC). Cataracts account for 50% of vision impairment worldwide, affecting far more people than other well-known protein aggregation-based diseases. However, because accumulation of crystallin PTMs begins before birth and long before ARC presents, we postulate that the lens protein PTMs contribute to a "cataractogenic load" that not only increases with age but also has protective effects on optical function by stabilizing lens crystallins until a tipping point is reached. In this review, we highlight decades of experimental findings that support the potential for PTMs to be protective during normal development. We hypothesize that ARC is preventable by protecting the biochemical and biophysical properties of lens proteins needed to maintain transparency, refraction, and optical function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roy A Quinlan
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, South Road Science Site, Durham, United Kingdom; Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
| | - John I Clark
- Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
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