APOLIPOPROTEIN-E AND LONGEVITY AMONG HAN CHINESE POPULATION

The apolipoprotein E gene (APOE), which locates on chromosome 19, has three common APOE alleles encoding APOE2, APOE*3, APOE*4. It has been considered to be closely associated with human longevity among Wester n population. However, the allele frequency varies among racial and et hnic groups. We studied the relationship between APOE and longevity am ong 1562 Han Chinese (246 female and 1316 male) whose ages ranged from 20-108 years old in Shanghai metropolitan area and Lian Yungang, Jian gsu province. APOE was amplified by one-stage PCR using the forward pr imer: 5'-GGC ACG GCT GTC CAA GGA GCT-3' and reverse primer: 5'-GAT GGC GCT GAG GCC GCG CT-3'. The PCR product was digested directly with 5 U of CfoI and separated by a 20% polyacrylamide (acrylamide:bisacrylami de = 29:1) nondenaturing gel. The allele frequency of APOE4 in the ve ry old age group (greater than or equal to 85 years) was significantly different from that in the youth (20-39 years), middle (40-59 years) and old (60-84 years) age group (2.5% vs 8.4, 7.9 or 7.6%; P < 0.05), respectively. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserv ed.