The prevalence of different genotypes, frequencies of alleles, allele 2 carrier status of studied cytokine gene polymorphisms and carriage of haplotypes of IL-1 complex were compared between nonagenarians and the control group using Fisher's exact test for 22 tables. Prevalences of each genotype and gene frequencies were compared between nonagenarians and controls using dichotomized variables (e.g. IL1RN genotype A1/A2: 122/250 vs. 199/400). All statistical analyses were conducted with STATISTICA software (StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, OK). The tests were conducted using Fisher's exact test for 22 tables.

There have been some reports of gene variants either being or not associated with longevity. This study is the first to attempt to search for the association between cytokine gene variants and longevity. As hematopoiesis, the cytokines participating in the regulation of the inflammatory response are functionally divided into pro-inflammatory (IL-1, IL-6, TNF) and anti-inflammatory (IL-1RA, IL-10) molecules. Polymorphisms of these cytokine genes have an effect on cytokine profile induced and thus may have an important role in the genetic regulation of inflammatory response and of resistance and susceptibility to infectious and autoimmune diseases.

Aging is associated with immune deterioration and dysregulation of cytokines, which are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of most age-related diseases. A number of independent studies have demonstrated that some cytokine gene polymorphisms are associated with diabetic nephropathy (Blakemore et al., 1996; Loughrey et al., 1998), Alzheimer'sX.-Y. Wang et al. / Mechanisms of Ageing and Development

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