The <i>CHIT1</i> gene polymorphism in Abkhazian population and the longevity phenomenon
Allelic polymorphisms associated with the cardiovascular, immune and repairing systems are currently considered as very important in the huge pool of complex factors affecting the longevity. Studies of ageing phenomenon are focused on populations with fairly high proportion of centenarians. In this study, we aimed at searching for the pattern of distribution of CHIT1 gene polymorphic variants among Abkhazians with regard to longevity. The samples of buccal epithelium were subdivided into two parts: a group of elderly subjects, and a control group (79 and 80 individuals, respectively). CHIT1 gene indel-polymorphism (rs3831317) analysis was performed using PCR-AFLP technique. Genotype frequencies in the control group were: TT - 0.70, TH = 0.25, HH = 0.05, T and H allele frequencies were 0.825 and 0.175 respectively. The group of elderlies did not differ significantly from the controls in allele frequencies, and TT/TH/HH genotype frequencies were distributed as 0.54/0.41/0.05. The study showed that the heterozygote proportion of CHIT1 gene is significantly higher in the group of elderly Abkhazians than in the control group.