Percentages (%).

for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium among all individuals (n(cid:30)1562)

Genotype APOE Observed Expected x2 N % N % 2:2 9 0.58 7.676 0.49 0.228 2:3 177 11.3 187.2 11.99 0.556 2:4 24 1.54 16.40 1.05 3.52 3:3 1155 73.9 1142 73.10 0.148 3:4 184 11.8 200.1 12.81 1.30 4:4 13 0.83 8.763 0.56 2.05

x2(cid:30)7.80; P\0.05; df(cid:30)5.

with 112 cys and 158 cys, it forms isoform APOE*2 which is a risk factor for type III hyperlipidemia (Breslow et al., 1982).

Although the association between APOE polymorphism, in particular the rela- tive proportion of APOE*4 and age-related pathologies have been investigated in Western populations (Davignon et al., 1988; Schachter et al., 1994; Kervinen et al., 1994), few publications in international journals on the study of relation- ship between APOE polymorphism and longevity in Han Chinese population, the largest population in the world, can be found. This should be the first report on the detailed studies of APOE polymorphism and longevity in Han Chinese population.

Our data shows significantly lower frequency of APOE*4 allele in the very old ] ( 85 years old) Han Chinese group compared to the other groups, this is in accordance with the studies by Davignon et al. (1988) in Canadian octogenari- ans and Kervinen et al. (1994) in Finnish nonagenarians. However, our results do not show the significantly higher frequency of APOE*2 allele in the very old ] ( 85 years old) Han Chinese, although Schachter et al. (1994) found not only a decrease in the APOE*4 allele frequency but also an increase in the APOE*2 allele frequency in French centenarians. This may be due to the ethnic differ- ence.

With discovery of the premature aging gene (Chang-En et al., 1996), biogerontologists are encouraged to find longevity gene combined with our data and colleagues’ data to elucidate the mechanisms of longevity or aging in detail.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality and the National Natural Science Foundation of China for generous financial supports.

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