Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036, Rende, Italy.
Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036, Rende, Italy.
Mech Ageing Dev. 2017 Jul;165(Pt B):147-155. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2017.03.011. Epub 2017 Apr 5.
Approximately one-quarter of the variation in lifespan in developed countries can be attributed to genetic factors. However, even large population based studies investigating genetic influence on human lifespan have been disappointing, identifying only a few genes accounting for genetic susceptibility to longevity. Some environmental and lifestyle determinants associated with longevity have been identified, which interplay with genetic factors in an intricate way. The study of gene-environment and gene-gene interactions can significantly improve our chance to disentangle this complex scenario. In this review, we first describe the most recent approaches for genetic studies of longevity, from those enriched with health parameters and frailty measures to pathway-based and SNP-SNP interaction analyses. Then, we go deeper into the concept of "environmental influences" in human aging and longevity, focusing on the contribution of life style changes, social and cultural influences, as important determinants of survival differences among individuals in a population. Finally, we discuss the contribution of the microbiome in human longevity, as an example of complex interaction between organism and environment. In conclusion, evidences collected from the latest studies on human longevity provide a support for the collection of life-long genetic and environmental/lifestyle variables with beneficial or detrimental effects on health, to improve our understanding of the determinants of human lifespan.
大约四分之一的发达国家的寿命变化可以归因于遗传因素。然而，即使是对人类寿命的遗传影响进行大型基于人群的研究也令人失望，只确定了少数几个基因可以解释对长寿的遗传易感性。已经确定了一些与长寿相关的环境和生活方式决定因素，它们以复杂的方式与遗传因素相互作用。研究基因-环境和基因-基因相互作用可以显著提高我们解开这种复杂情况的机会。在这篇综述中，我们首先描述了长寿的遗传研究的最新方法，从那些富含健康参数和脆弱性测量的方法到基于途径和 SNP-SNP 相互作用的分析。然后，我们深入探讨了“环境影响”在人类衰老和长寿中的概念，重点讨论了生活方式改变、社会和文化影响的贡献，这些因素是个体在人群中生存差异的重要决定因素。最后，我们讨论了微生物组在人类长寿中的贡献，这是生物体和环境之间复杂相互作用的一个例子。总之，从最新的人类长寿研究中收集的证据为收集对健康有益或有害的终生遗传和环境/生活方式变量提供了支持，以提高我们对人类寿命决定因素的理解。
