SO DIFFERENT BUT EQUAL: 33 LONGEVITY GENES' LOCI IN THE ROMA AND IN THE GENERAL POPULATION OF CROATIA.

The age pyramid of Roma populations tips strongly towards the younger age groups and is characterized by a low number of elderly individuals. There is a vast range of environmental factors that influence the age structure of Roma populations. To explore whether a genetic risk for premature mortality also exists in this ethnic minority, 33 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 23 putative longevity genes were investigated in 308 adult Roma living in Croatia, and in Croatian population sample, composed of 314 "Old" (85-101 yrs.) and 97 "Young" (20-35 yrs.) subjects. The cumulative effect of the investigated SNPs, which have previously been related to human longevity, was summarized within Genetic Longevity Score (GLS). After Bonferroni correction the "Old" and "Young" Croatian age groups differ only in the allele frequency in MRE11A locus (rs533984), while the Roma had significantly different allele frequencies from the surrounding majority population in most of the investigated longevity genes loci (in 16 out of the 33 SNPs). However, the Roma's GLS is equal to those in the "Young" and "Old" Croatian cohorts implying identical chances of surviving to the age of 85 among Roma as in the majority Croatian population, when only genetics is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]