RESEARCH ARTICLE Role of prothrombotic polymorphisms in successful or unsuccessful aging Loredana Vaccarino • Giusi Irma Forte • Marisa Palmeri • Gabriella Misiano • Elisa Porcellini • Martina Chiappelli • Letizia Scola • Calogero Caruso • Federico Licastro • Domenico Lio Received: 27 January 2011 / Accepted: 4 March 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract The study of the genetic profile of centenarians aims to identify the genes and allelic variants which may influence a greater life expec- tancy and that can be considered as predisposing factors associated to the aging diseases, such as Alzheimer. Centenarians, that represent a cohort of selected survivors, show an hypercoagulability state characterised by striking signs of high coagulation enzyme activity, as directly assessed by the tested higher plasma level of some important factors involved in the haemostasis balance. Anyway, these individuals seem to have a reduced susceptibility to dementia, as well as to cardiovascular events. In this study we analyze the frequencies of Leiden Factor V polymorphism (G1691A), and G20210A of pro- thrombin (FII) in three cohorts of subjects: patients with Alzheimer’s disease (unsuccessful aging), nona- genarians (successful aging) and young healthy controls, to assess whether allelic variants associated to the modification of haemostatic system function, may play a role in the protection or susceptibility to Alzheimer disease, as well as to reach a successful aging. No significant differences were observed in the frequencies of the three groups studied. These results indicate that the presence or absence of the gene variants examined did not influence the achievement of advanced age and are not risk factors for Alzhei- mer’s disease. The state of hypercoagulability and the possession of these risk alleles appear to be compat- ible with the achievement of longevity and are not implied as risk factors in Alzheimer disease development. Keywords Leiden factor V Á Prothrombin Á Nonagenarians Á Alzheimer disease Á Aging Introduction Aging is characterised by a progressive loss of ability to effectively interact with the environmental stimuli and it is accompanied by progressive modification and adaptations that are influenced by lifestyle and genetic background of the single individual, condi- tioning the reaching of a successful or an unsuccess- ful ageing. The preservation of cognitive functioning is an essential component of successful aging. The ability to distinguish those individuals who maintain cognitive health into advanced age from those who will develop a cognitive decline may influence public health efforts, in order to prevent or delay the onset of cognitive impairment in old age. L. Vaccarino Á G. I. Forte (&) Á M. Palmeri Á G. Misiano Á L. Scola Á C. Caruso Á D. Lio Department of Biopathology and Medical and Forensic Biotechnology, University of Palermo, Corso Tukory 211, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: giusiforte@unipa.it E. Porcellini Á M. Chiappelli Á F. Licastro Department of Sperimental Pathology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 123 Biogerontology DOI 10.1007/s10522-011-9328-5