The 4977 bp deletion of mitochondrial DNA in human skeletal muscle, heart and different areas of the brain: a useful biomarker or more?

It has been suggested that deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are important players with regard to the ageing process. Since the early 1990s, the 4977 bp deletion has been studied in various tissues, especially in postmitotic tissues with high energy demand. Unfortunately, some of these studies included less than 10 subjects, so the aim of our study was to quantify reliably the deletion amount in nine different regions of human brain, heart and skeletal muscle in a cohort of 92 individuals.