Caruso C, Candore G, Colonna-Romano G, Lio D, Bonafe M, Valesin F, Franceschi C. HLA, aging and longevity: A critical reappraisal. Human Immunol ; : 

Caruso C, Candore G, Colonna-Romano G, Lio D, Bonafe M, Valesin F, Franceschi C. Immunogenetics of longevity. Is major histocompatibility complex polymorphism relevant to the control of human longevity? Mech Ageing Dev ; : 

Candore G, Lio D, Colonna-Romano G, Caruso C. Pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases associated with ancestral haplotype: Effect of multiple gene interactions. Autoimmunity Rev ; : 

Li, PeM, Carr, List F, Ferlazzo, Candore G, Colonna-Romano G, Ferrucci L, Deiana L, Baggio G, Franceschi C. Association between the HLA-DR alleles and longevity: A study in Sardinian population. Exp Gerontol ; : 

Scola L, Lio D, Candore G, Forte GI, Crivello A, Colonna-Romano G, Pes MG, Carru C, Ferrucci L, Deiana L, Baggio G, Franceschi C, Caruso C. Analysis of HLA-DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1 haplotypes in Sardinian centenarians. Exp Gerontol ; : 

Moretta A, Sivori S, Vitali M, Pende D, Morelli L, Augugliaro R, Bottino C, Moretta L. Existence of both inhibitory (p58) and activating (p50) receptors for HLA-C molecules in human natural killer cells. J Exp Med ; : 

Diversity in immunosenescence and longevity has been investigated only in the Irish population. Although two KIR genes (2DS3 and 2DL5) displayed an initial increased frequency in the aged group, the significance of this association was absent when repeated in a second cohort (16). Both activating and inhibitory KIR genes encode receptors with immune functions that clearly have the potential to optimize NK cell activity in the elderly, thereby contributing to prolonged lifespan. Hence, the increased prevalence of such a KIR gene in the healthy aged may reflect a role for the activating receptor it encodes in providing an improved level of innate immune protection against virus infection and cancer.

In this study, we evaluated the frequencies of genes HLA-DRB1 and KIR in centenarians and controls from Sicily. Our results demonstrate an increase of HLA DRB1*18 allele in male centenarians compared to controls even after Bonferroni correction. The frequency of the HLA-B8, DR3 haplotype is very low and not significant both in centenarians and in controls as well as in literature data (33). In regard to KIR genes, only a significant decrease of the 2DP1 KIR gene in centenarians was observed, which was no longer observed after Bonferroni correction.

Papasteriades C, Boki K, Pappa H, Aedonopoulos S, Papasteriadis E, Economidou J. HLA phenotypes in healthy aged subjects. Gerontology ; : 

Franceschi C, Motta L, Valensin S, Rapisarda R, Franzone A, Berardelli M,gcandore@unipa.it