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In Reply: In response to Drs Andrikopoulos and Richter, the main finding of our study is that families with exceptional longevity have a lipoprotein signature that includes high levels of HDL cholesterol and large HDL and LDL lipoprotein particle sizes. These lipoprotein phenotypes were demonstrated to be associated with decreased prevalence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the metabolic syndrome. Our study and other studies¹ have clearly documented CVD-protective effects of the same lipoprotein phenotypes. Thus, our finding with respect to exceptional longevity and lipoprotein concentrations and particle sizes appears robust and consistent with the burden of the cardiovascular literature.

Because exceptional longevity has a strong genetic component and offspring of exceptionally long-lived individuals also carried the protective lipoprotein phenotype, we further sought to elucidate a potential genetic link; CETP is an obvious candidate gene given its role in reverse cholesterol transport. Our findings showed a statistical association between homozygosity . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Nir Barzilai, MD
barzilai@aecom.yu.edu

Gil Atzmon, PhD
Institute for Aging Research
Diabetes Research and Training Center

Clyde Schechter, MA, MD
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Richard Lipton, MD
Department of Neurology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
New York, NY

Alan R. Shuldiner, MD
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Baltimore

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