The allele (A)(-110) in the promoter region of the HSP70-1 gene is unfavorable to longevity in women.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are crucial for maintenance of cell homeostasis and survival both during and after various stresses. The capability to cope with stress is believed to affect the chance of health and survival at organismal level. We have investigated whether the gene pool relevant to the (A/C)(-110) polymorphism in the promoter region of the HSP70-1 gene changes as the population ages and survival selection occurs. A total of 591 southern Italian subjects were enrolled in the study (263 males and 328 females; age range 18-109 years), free of clinically manifest diseases and with normal haemato-chemical parameters. A significant age-related decrease of the frequency of allele (A)(-110) was observed in females. The probability ratio of 0.403 (95% confidence interval [0.163, 0.910]) computed by considering female centenarians as cases and young women (18-49 years old) as controls showed that the (A)(-110) allele is unfavorable to longevity in females.