Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role?
Abstract It is well known that women live longer than men. This gap is observed in most human populations and can even reach 10–15 years. In addition, most of the known super centenarians (i.e., humans who lived for > 110 years) are women. The differences in life expectancy between men and women...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2018-07-01
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| Series: | Biology of Sex Differences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13293-018-0181-y |
| _version_ | 1819198600606908416 |
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| author | Gabriel A.B. Marais Jean-Michel Gaillard Cristina Vieira Ingrid Plotton Damien Sanlaville François Gueyffier Jean-Francois Lemaitre |
| author_facet | Gabriel A.B. Marais Jean-Michel Gaillard Cristina Vieira Ingrid Plotton Damien Sanlaville François Gueyffier Jean-Francois Lemaitre |
| author_sort | Gabriel A.B. Marais |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract It is well known that women live longer than men. This gap is observed in most human populations and can even reach 10–15 years. In addition, most of the known super centenarians (i.e., humans who lived for > 110 years) are women. The differences in life expectancy between men and women are often attributed to cultural differences in common thinking. However, sex hormones seem to influence differences in the prevalence of diseases, in the magnitude of aging, and in the longevity between men and women. Moreover, far from being human specific, the sex gap in longevity is extremely common in non-human animals, especially in mammals. Biological factors clearly contribute to such a sex gap in aging and longevity. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain why males and females age and die differently. The cost of sexual selection and sexual dimorphism has long been considered the best explanation for the observed sex gap in aging/longevity. However, the way mitochondria are transmitted (i.e., through females in most species) could have an effect, called the mother’s curse. Recent data suggest that sex chromosomes may also contribute to the sex gap in aging/longevity through several potential mechanisms, including the unguarded X/Z, the toxic Y/W and the loss of Y/W. We discuss future research directions to test these ideas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T03:03:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2a8e4aad92454c009805c6fa44f8bedf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2042-6410 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T03:03:01Z |
| publishDate | 2018-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology of Sex Differences |
| spelling | doaj.art-2a8e4aad92454c009805c6fa44f8bedf2022-12-21T18:02:23ZengBMCBiology of Sex Differences2042-64102018-07-019111410.1186/s13293-018-0181-ySex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role?Gabriel A.B. Marais0Jean-Michel Gaillard1Cristina Vieira2Ingrid Plotton3Damien Sanlaville4François Gueyffier5Jean-Francois Lemaitre6Laboratoire “Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive”- UMR 5558, CNRS / Université Lyon 1Laboratoire “Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive”- UMR 5558, CNRS / Université Lyon 1Laboratoire “Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive”- UMR 5558, CNRS / Université Lyon 1Service d’Endocrinologie Moléculaire et Maladies Rares, Hospices Civils de LyonService de Génétique, Hospices Civils de Lyon, CRNL, GENDEV team, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Université Lyon 1Laboratoire “Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive”- UMR 5558, CNRS / Université Lyon 1Laboratoire “Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive”- UMR 5558, CNRS / Université Lyon 1Abstract It is well known that women live longer than men. This gap is observed in most human populations and can even reach 10–15 years. In addition, most of the known super centenarians (i.e., humans who lived for > 110 years) are women. The differences in life expectancy between men and women are often attributed to cultural differences in common thinking. However, sex hormones seem to influence differences in the prevalence of diseases, in the magnitude of aging, and in the longevity between men and women. Moreover, far from being human specific, the sex gap in longevity is extremely common in non-human animals, especially in mammals. Biological factors clearly contribute to such a sex gap in aging and longevity. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain why males and females age and die differently. The cost of sexual selection and sexual dimorphism has long been considered the best explanation for the observed sex gap in aging/longevity. However, the way mitochondria are transmitted (i.e., through females in most species) could have an effect, called the mother’s curse. Recent data suggest that sex chromosomes may also contribute to the sex gap in aging/longevity through several potential mechanisms, including the unguarded X/Z, the toxic Y/W and the loss of Y/W. We discuss future research directions to test these ideas.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13293-018-0181-yLongevityAgingSexual dimorphismSex hormonesMother’s curseSex chromosomes |
| spellingShingle | Gabriel A.B. Marais Jean-Michel Gaillard Cristina Vieira Ingrid Plotton Damien Sanlaville François Gueyffier Jean-Francois Lemaitre Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role? Biology of Sex Differences Longevity Aging Sexual dimorphism Sex hormones Mother’s curse Sex chromosomes |
| title | Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role? |
| title_full | Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role? |
| title_fullStr | Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role? |
| title_short | Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role? |
| title_sort | sex gap in aging and longevity can sex chromosomes play a role |
| topic | Longevity Aging Sexual dimorphism Sex hormones Mother’s curse Sex chromosomes |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13293-018-0181-y |
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