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Correlation Between the Level of Cytogenetic Aberrations in Cultured Human Lymphocytes and the Age and Gender of Donors

Alina Wojda, Ewa Zitkiewicz, Magorzata Mossakowska, Wodzimierz Pawowski, Krzysztof Skrzypczak and Micha Witt

¹ Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pozna, Poland.
² International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Regional Hospital, Pozna, Poland.
⁴ Dispensary UNIMEDYK, Pozna, Poland.

Address correspondence to Micha Witt, MD, PhD, Institute of Human Genetics, Clinical and Molecular Genetics, Strzeszyska 32, Pozna, A 60-479, Poland. E-mail: wittmich{at}man.poznan.pl

To answer whether the age-related accumulation of chromosomal damage differs in men and women, and whether the aberration level in centenarians is proportional to their age, cytogenetic aberrations in dividing cells were analyzed. G-band karyotyping of mitotic spreads from lymphocytes was performed in 52 Polish centenarians and 71 controls (aged 21–78). Statistical evaluation was performed using nonparametric tests and regression analysis. The average level of all chromosomal aberrations was comparable in centenarians of both genders, but the age-related increase in chromosomal damage occurred faster in women than in men. Aging in both genders was marked by the increasing level of all aberrations rather than by chromosome-specific changes; the loss of X chromosome was the leading contributor in women. The age-related increase in the level of chromosomal damage reflected accumulation of dividing cells with a small number of aberrations. Individuals who survive to the extreme old age appear to accumulate aberrations at the slower rate.