Association between single nucleotide polymorphism of rs1937 in TFAM gene and longevity among the elderly Chinese...

To investigate whether the mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) rs1937 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is associated with longevity.

We conducted a case-control study among Chinese long-lived individuals (≥90 years). Data were obtained on 3294 participants who were able to voluntarily provided a saliva sample during 2008-2009 from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). In this study, 1387 young elderly (65-74 years) were allocated to the control group, and 1907 long-lived individuals were recruited as the case group. SNP rs1937 on TFAM were genotyped. Logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the association between rs1937 SNP and longevity.

The genotype frequency of the SNP of rs1937 in the two groups had a significant difference (p = 0.003). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that compared to younger elderly, the long-lived individuals with "CC genotype" of rs1937 were more closely related to increased longevity than those with "GG genotype" (OR: 1.989, 95% CI: 1.160-3.411). The positive association between rs1937 SNP and longevity was robust in stratified analyses and sensitivity analyses.

We found the SNP of rs1937 may be a potential biomarker for longer human life span. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the biological mechanism of rs1937 on TFAM with promoting longevity.