Distributions of interleukin-6 (IL-6) promoter and metallothionein 2A (MT2A) core promoter region gene polymorphisms and their associations with aging in Turkish population.

Aging is determined as the product of an interaction among genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. As interleukin-6 (IL-6) and metallothioneins (MTs) are related to inflammation and oxidative stress response, their genes are appropriate candidate for aging, age related diseases and infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the IL-6 -174 G/C promoter region and MT2A -5 A/G core promoter region single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with longevity in Turkish population. Blood samples were collected from 354 individuals between 18 and 95 years of age. Individuals were classified into four groups according to their ages as 20-40, 41-60, 61-80, >80. IL-6 and MT2A polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Mean ages of individuals with IL-6 -74 C- carriers and C+ carriers were 49.82±20.45 years and 59.82±16.82 years, respectively. For the MT2A polymorphism, mean ages were estimated as 56.18±19.50 years for G- carriers and 47.59±13.45 years for G+ carriers. As a result, when the IL-6 and MT2A polymorphisms were compared with the mean ages and age groups, statistically significant associations were found (p<0.001 and p<0.05, respectively). In conclusion, these data support that the IL-6 -174 C+ carriers and MT2A -5 G- carriers may be more advantageous for longevity.