Association of longevity with IL-10 1082 GA and TNF-a 308 GA polymorphisms is linked to genetic factors (Karasik et al., 2005). People who survive beyond 85 years old, including centenarians, octogenarians, and nonagenarians, are characterized by a marked delay or escape from age-related diseases. Therefore, analyzing genes that modulate susceptibility to age-related diseases in these populations may provide insights into human longevity.

Summary
Cytokines are crucial for regulating inflammation development in humans. Many studies have shown that variations in cytokine genes might play a role in determining human longevity. This study examined changes in the gene pool relevant to the 308 GA polymorphism in the promoter region of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a gene and the 1082 GA polymorphism in the promoter region of anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 gene with aging and survival selection occurring in the Jordanian population. IL-10 1028 GA and TNF-a 308 GA were genotyped in 119 randomly selected elderly subjects (41 women and 78 men) with a mean age of 90.2 years and young control subjects of 118 (46 women and 72 men) with a mean age of 31.9 years. No significant differences were found in the genotype and allele frequencies of TNF-a gene variants between the two groups (P > 0.05), while IL-10 genotype and allele frequencies were significantly associated with longevity in men (P < 0.05) but not in women (P < 0.05). Thus, IL-10 1028 GA polymorphism seems to play a role in the pathway to longevity in Jordanian men.

Processes that could intensify susceptibility to diseases have been studied (Krabbe et al., 2004; Griffin, 2006; et al., 2006; Sbarsi et al., 2007; Yamashina et al., 2007; Sansoni et al., 2008). As cytokines regulate inflammatory status in humans, allelic variations in inflammatory cytokine genes might affect human lifespan. In fact, certain variations in cytokine genes have been shown to be associated with human longevity type (Cavallone et al., 2003; Scola et al., 2003, Carrieri et al., 2004; Caruso et al., 2004; et al., 2004; Franceschi et al., 2005; Candore et al., 2006). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and interleukin (IL)-10 are two cytokines with opposite functions in the inflammatory response. TNF-a acts predominantly as a proinflammatory agent, whereas IL-10 acts as an anti-inflammatory cytokine (Bidwell et al., 1999; Dinarello, 2000). Therefore, variations in levels of TNF-a and IL-10 might have an impact on the inflammatory response with a subsequent effect on longevity. Two polymorphisms in the promoter of TNF-a (GA transition at position 308) and (GA transition at position 1082) are related to transcriptional activity (Kroeger et al., 1997; et al., 1997; Crawley et al., 1999; Gibson et al., 2001; Cacev et al., 2008). Their functional is evident by their involvement in determining susceptibility to immune-inflammatory diseases (Hajeer Hutchinson, 2000; Howell & Rose-Zerilli, 2006). In addition, the IL-10 1082 GA and TNF-a 308 polymorphisms are associated with longevity in (Lio et al., 2002a, 2003; Cardelli et al., 2008).

Introduction
Longevity is a biological phenomenon that means successful aging resulting from a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors (Kirkwood, 2005). Environmental factors include dietary habits, physical activity, smoking, and healthcare, whereas genetic factors consist of the various loci playing key roles in body homeostasis (Dossey, 2002). Arguably, about one-quarter of the longevity trend can be attributed to genetic factors (Karasik et al., 2005).

Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to examine the association of TNF-a and IL-10 alleles with longevity in the Jordanian population. We found that the frequency of 308 A is low in the Jordanian population, whereas the frequency of IL-10 1082 A allele is very common. No association between 308 GA TNF-a promoter SNP in our sample of Jordanian elderly with longevity was detected, whereas 1082 GA IL-10 promoter SNP was associated with longevity in men but not in women.