Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5000 Odense, Denmark.
The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5000 Odense, Denmark.
Genes (Basel). 2019 Feb 20;10(2):166. doi: 10.3390/genes10020166.
Studies with twins provide fundamental insights to lifespans of humans. We aim to clarify if monozygotic and dizygotic twin individuals differ in lifespan, that is, if zygosity matters. We investigate whether a possible difference in mortality after infancy between zygosities is stable in different age cohorts, and whether the difference remains when twins with unknown zygosity are taken into account. Further, we compare the distribution of long-livers, that is, the upper-tail of the lifespan distribution, between monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin individuals. The Danish Twin Registry provides a nationwide cohort of 109,303 twins born during 1870 to 1990 with valid vital status. Standard survival analysis is used to compare mortality in monozygotic and dizygotic twin individuals and twin individuals with unknown zygosity. The mortality of monozygotic and dizygotic twin individuals differs slightly after taking into consideration effects of birth- and age-cohorts, gender differences, and that twins are paired. However, no substantial nor systematic differences remain when taking twins with unknown zygosity into account. Further, the distribution of long-livers is very similar by zygosity, suggesting the same mortality process. The population-based and oldest twin cohort ever studied suggests that monozygotic and dizygotic twins have similar lifespans.
对双胞胎的研究为人类的寿命提供了基本的见解。我们旨在阐明同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎个体在寿命上是否存在差异，也就是说，同卵性是否重要。我们研究了在不同年龄队列中，婴儿期后死亡率的差异是否稳定，以及当考虑到不明同卵性的双胞胎时，这种差异是否仍然存在。此外，我们还比较了同卵双胞胎和同性别异卵双胞胎个体之间长寿者（即寿命分布的上尾）的分布情况。丹麦双胞胎登记处提供了一个全国性的队列，其中包括 1870 年至 1990 年间出生的 109303 对双胞胎，他们的生命状况有效。标准生存分析用于比较同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎个体以及不明同卵性的双胞胎个体的死亡率。在考虑了出生和年龄队列、性别差异以及双胞胎配对的影响后，同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎个体的死亡率略有差异。然而，当考虑到不明同卵性的双胞胎时，这种差异就不存在了。此外，长寿者的分布情况在同卵性和异卵性方面非常相似，这表明存在相同的死亡率过程。这项基于人群的、有史以来最古老的双胞胎队列研究表明，同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎的寿命相似。
