Sex- and age-specificity of suceptibility genes modulating survival at old age

Objective: We aimed to investigate the influence of the geneticvariability of candidate genes on survival at old age ingood health. Methods: First, on the basis of a synthetic survivalcurve constructed using historic mortality data takenfrom the Italian population from 1890 onward, we definedthree age classes ranging from 18 to 106 years. Second, weassembled a multinomial logistic regression model to evaluatethe effect of dichotomous variables (genotypes) on theprobability to be assigned to a specific category (age class).Third, we applied the regression model to a cross-sectionaldataset (10 genes; 972 subjects selected for healthy status)categorized according to age and sex. Results: We foundthat genetic factors influence survival at advanced age ingood health in a sex- and age-specific way. Furthermore, wefound that genetic variability plays a stronger role in malesthan in females and that, in both genders, its impact is especiallyimportant at very old ages. Conclusions: The analysespresented here underline the age-specific effect of the genenetwork in modulating survival at advanced age in goodhealth.