The analysis of seven different age cohorts (697 individuals from
10 to 109 years old) revealed age-related changes in the 3′APOB-VNTR
genotype pool. By recoding the 3′APOB-VNTR alleles into
three size-classes (small, S, 26–34 repeats; medium, M, 35–39
repeats;
large, L, 41–55 repeats), an
age-related convex trajectory of the frequency of SS homozygotes was found.
The frequency of SS
in the genotype pool increased from the group aged 10–19 years
(3.06±1.74%) to that aged 40–49
years (8.51±4.07%). Then it declined reaching the minimum value
in
centenarians (1.58±0.90%).
The observed trajectory is in agreement with that expected by assuming
crossing of mortality curves
relevant to subgroups of individuals having different genotypes.