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Amerindian ancestry and extended longevity in Nicoya, Costa Rica
(American Journal of Human Biology,vol.30(1), 2018) Azofeifa Navas, Jorge; Ruiz Narváez, Edward A.; Leal Esquivel, Alejandro; Gerlovin, Hanna; Rosero Bixby, Luis
Objectives: The aim of this study was to address the hypothesis that Amerindian ancestry is associated with extended longevity in the admixed population of Nicoya, Costa Rica. The Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica has been considered a “longevity island,” particularly for males. Methods: We estimated Amerindian ancestry using 464 ancestral informative markers in 20 old Nicoyans aged 99 years, and 20 younger Nicoyans (60-65 years). We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the association of Amerindian ancestry and longevity. Results: Older Nicoyans had higher Amerindian ancestry compared to younger Nicoyans (43.3% vs 36.0%, P5.04). Each 10% increase of Amerindian ancestry was associated with more than twice the odds of being long-lived (OR52.32, 95% CI51.03-5.25). Conclusions and Implications: To our knowledge, this is the first time that ancestry is implicated as a likely determinant of extended longevity. Amerindian-specific alleles may protect against early mortality. The identification of these protective alleles should be the focus of future studies.
Correlates of longitudinal leukocyte telomere length in the Costa Rican Longevity Study of Healthy Aging (CRELES): On the importance of DNA collection and storage procedures
(PLoS ONE, vol.14(10), 2019) Rosero Bixby, Luis; Rehkopf, David H.; Dow, William H.; Lin, Jue; Epel, Elissa S.; Azofeifa Navas, Jorge; Leal Esquivel, Alejandro
The objective is to identify cofactors of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in a Latin American population, specifically the association of LTL with 36 socio-demographic, early childhood, and health characteristics, as well as with DNA sample collection and storage procedures. The analysis is based on longitudinal information from a subsample of 1,261 individuals aged 60+ years at baseline from the Costa Rican Study of Longevity and Healthy Aging (CRELES): a nationally representative sample of elderly population. Random effects regression models for panel data were used to estimate the associations with LTL and its longitudinal changes. Sample collection procedures and DNA refrigerator storage time were strongly associated with LTL: telomeres are longer in blood collected in October-December, in DNA extracted from <1-year-old blood cells, and in DNA stored at 4°C for longer periods of time up to five years. The data confirmed that telomeres are shorter at older ages, as well as among males, and diabetic individuals, whereas telomeres are longer in the high-longevity Nicoya region. Most health, biomarkers, and early childhood indicators did not show significant associations with LTL. Longitudinal LTL variation over approximately two years was mainly associated with baseline LTL levels, as found in other studies. Our findings suggest that if there is unavoidable variability in season of sample collection and DNA storage time, these factors should be controlled for in all demographic and epidemiologic studies of LTL. However, due to unobserved components of measurement variation, statistical control may be inadequate as compared to standardization of data collection procedures.
Diet and leukocyte telomere length in a population with extended longevity: the Costa Rican longevity and healthy aging study (CRELES)
(Nutrients, 13(8), 2021) Ruiz Narváez, Edward A.; Baylin, Ana; Azofeifa Navas, Jorge; Leal Esquivel, Alejandro; Rosero Bixby, Luis
Elderly Costa Ricans have lower mortality rates compared to their counterparts from developed countries. Reasons for this survival advantage are not completely known. In the present study, we aimed to identify dietary factors associated with leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biologic aging, in the elderly population of Costa Rica. We conducted prospective analysis in 909 participants aged 60+ years from the Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES). We used a food frequency questionnaire to assess usual diet. We calculated dietary patterns using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We used generalized linear models to examine the association of dietary patterns and food groups with leukocyte telomere length. We found two major dietary patterns explaining 9.15% and 7.18% of the total variation of food intake, respectively. The first dietary pattern, which represents a traditional Costa Rican rice and beans pattern, was more frequent in rural parts of the country and was positively associated with baseline LTL: (95% CI) = 42.0 base-pairs (bp) (9.9 bp, 74.1 bp) per one-unit increase of the traditional dietary pattern. In analysis of individual food groups, intake of grains was positively associated with baseline LTL: (95% CI) = 43.6 bp (13.9 bp, 73.3 bp) per one-serving/day increase of consumption of grains. Our results suggest that dietary factors, in particular a traditional food pattern, are associated with telomere length and may contribute to the extended longevity of elderly Costa Ricans.

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