Senescence and human chromosome changes

Chromosome counts and a search for structural abnormalities were performed in cultured leukocytes from 60 elderly subjects (ages 62–96) and 60 controls (ages 10–13). A total of 3900 cells were examined, 3600 in 3-day cultures and 300 in cultivations maintained for 2 days. Our results and those obtained by other investigators indicate clearly that there is an increase in the level of aneuploidy and of structural abnormalities in the blood of aged persons. There is an excess of missing C-group chromosomes in elderly females, but no consistent preferential loss was observed among the males. In contrast with two previous studies, we found a significant decrease of aneuploid cells in 3-day cultures, as compared to those cultivated for 2 days only.