Want to see our favorite hGH supplement? Click here!

Some people who reach 100 years of age have particularly healthy levels of cholesterol in their blood and genetic makeup may be responsible, according to the results of a study of Japanese centenarians.

The study of 75 Japanese men and women who were at least 100 years old and 73 individuals whose average age was about 63 years revealed that the centenarians had lower levels of total cholesterol and LDL (''bad'') cholesterol compared with their younger peers.

The investigators also found that the over-100 group had lower apolipoprotein B (apo B), a cholesterol-carrying compound linked to increased risk of heart disease, compared with study participants in their 60s.

The only factor that seemed to influence these levels was a gene coding for apolipoprotein E, a molecule that came in three forms - E2, E3, and E4. In general, people inherit two copies of apo E, one from each parent. In the study, those centenarians with at least one gene coding for apo E2 had low levels of LDL and apo B.

The presence of the gene was even more important than modifiable risk factors such as nutritional status and physical activity, which suggested that lower concentrations of apo B ``may be long-standing and mainly responsible for genetic factors,'' according to Dr. Yasumichi Arai from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

Overall, nine out of 75, or 12%, of the centenarians had the apo E2 gene, a much higher frequency than found in the general Japanese population (0.023% to 0.037%). However, those with apo E2 were more likely to have normal levels of HDL.

In other findings, the centenarians in general had lower levels of HDL (''good'') cholesterol than their younger counterparts. Those elderly with low HDL were more likely to be frail, undernourished and suffer from dementia, according to the report in the November issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2001;49:1434-1441).