ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

This work has been supported by grants from the Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar in Aging Award, the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award, the National Institutes of Health (R01 AG18728), the General Clinical Research Center (M01-RR12248), the Diabetes Research and Training Center (DK 20541) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and the Baltimore VA Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Center. Because we have studied a relatively homogeneous cohort of Ashkenazi Jews residing on the East Coast of the United States, population stratification is an unlikely explanation for the observed associations. Furthermore, the same alleles enriched in male probands were associated with higher adiponectin levels, as previously reported in other populations (13,28). The 2019 single nucleotide deletion is present in the 3' untranslated region and could affect protein expression by altering messenger RNA stability or translational efficiency. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that this and the promoter variant may not be causal but rather in linkage disequilibrium with functional variants. Functional studies will be required to further define the causal role of these variants on adiponectin levels and the longevity phenotype. Since several comparisons were made and the associations are at a modest level of significance, the replication of previous reports of association with adiponectin levels in the same direction (13,28) supports a true effect on adiponectin levels and enrichment in long-lived probands of the rs17300539 G/A-A/A and APM12019 del/del. 

We are indebted to all participants and their families for their commitment and enthusiasm. We are also grateful to the following institutions that assisted in recruitment: The Hebrew Home for the Aging, Riverdale, NY; Kittay House, Bronx, NY; the Hebrew Home Hospital, West Hartford, CT; and the Jewish Home for the Aged, New Haven, CT, all under the aegis of the Association for Jewish Aging Services, Washington, DC. We also thank Sandy Ott for performing the genotype analysis. Drs. Atzmon and Pollin contributed equally to this work. 

CORRESPONDENCE 

Address correspondence to Nir Barzilai, MD, Institute for Aging Research, Belfer Bldg. #701, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461. E-mail: barzilai@aecom.yu.edu 

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