Male/female ratio in centenarians: a possible role played by population genetic structure.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

All the demographic surveys on the centenarians have highlighted that females outnumber males. The centenarians' male/female (M/F) ratio reported by most studies ranges between 1:4 and 1:7. A puzzling 1:2 ratio was observed in Calabria, a Southern Italian region. To our knowledge only in Sardinia a similar phenomenon had been previously observed. We have therefore used the data of the Italian Institute of Statistics to figure out the centenarians' M/F ratio in the Italian regions. We found that this ratio gradually decreases from South to North. Such a result is certainly due to many factors. Thus, we have explored the possibility, it is also influenced by the genetic structure of the Italian population. In fact, the distribution of the centenarians' M/F ratio turned out to be significantly correlated with the genetic structure of the Italian population as outlined by the principal component analysis.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Passarino, G; Calignano, C; Vallone, A; Franceschi, C; Jeune, B; Robine, JM; Yashin, AI; Cavalli Sforza, LL; De Benedictis, G

Published Date

  • October 2002

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 37 / 10-11

Start / End Page

  • 1283 - 1289

PubMed ID

  • 12470842

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-6815

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0531-5565

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/s0531-5565(02)00140-7

Language

  • eng