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In conclusion, we report that the allelic variability of the serum carnosinase leader peptide is greater than previously thought. In humans, this system does not however appear to have any measurable influence on the likelihood of attaining old age or of developing coronary heart disease.

Acknowledgements

We thank Barry Freedman, Ton de Craen and Rudi Westendorp for fruitful collaboration and access to unpublished data. This study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Science and Education through an Explorative Project of the National Genome Research Network (NGFN-2). The work was