engleski

Translocation yield and its distribution among chromosomes 1, 2 and 4 in healthy elderly population

The accumulation of damage to cellular biomolecules, including DNA, over time may play a significant role in the aetiology of the ageing process. Studies have shown a significant increase in chromosome aneuploidy with age but none have investigated translocations in healthy elderly populations. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the age-related changes influence translocation frequencies in men and women. Present study comprised twenty-one generally healthy male and female subjects between the ages of 65 and 76. Individuals included have no record of suffering any inflammatory and/or autoimmune disease, malignancies or psychological disorders or any other state that would require chronic medical treatment. Examinees were matched with control subjects by age (68.26 ±3.74 vs. 45.90±6.77, respectively), sex (11 females ; 10 males), and alcohol consummation (8 alcohol consumers ; 13 non-alcohol consumers). Persons reporting alcohol consummation higher than one unit per week and smokers were omitted from the study. We analyzed metaphase lymphocytes by fluorescent in situ hybridization using paint probes for chromosomes 1, 2 and 4. For each subject not less than 1000 metaphases were analysed. Translocation frequencies were calculated according to Lucas et al., 1992. Genomic frequency of translocations per cell was significantly elevated (0.0228±0.0065 vs. control 0.0039±0.0017). Although, distribution of translocations among chromosomes 1, 2 and 4 slightly differed from the control subjects it did not significantly vary from DNA fractions for selected chromosomes. The frequency of chromosome 1 increased by 3.15%, for chromosome 2 decreased by 8.95% and for chromosome 4 increased by 5.81%. Preliminary results are interesting and further research on larger population should be conducted involving inclusion of some other chromosomes into evaluations of genome stability on healthy elderly individuals.

translocations; elderly

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