Supercentenarian Maria Brañas Morera on her 117th birthday on March 4, 2024. (Photo credit: Arxiu de la família Brañas Morera, (CC0 1.0 UNIVERSAL Deed), via Wikimedia Commons)
Maria Brañas Morera died in August 2024 at the age of 117, but some aspects of her biology appear significantly younger, new research has shown.
Scientists say the study could help identify key factors that enable some people to resist disease and live to old age.
Before her death in a nursing home in Catalonia, Spain, Branyas held the title of the world’s oldest living person for about a year and a half. Now, analysis of urine, blood, stool and saliva samples collected from Branyas in the last year of her life shows that she had a variety of factors that potentially protected her from disease. These include genes involved in immune function, high cholesterol and an abundance of inflammation-fighting bacteria in her gut.
The study was published on February 25 on the preprint server bioRxiv and has not yet been peer-reviewed.
“One of the goals of this study was to understand and explain the gap between extreme longevity and old age, without the presence of diseases that are typically seen in older people,” lead study author Manel Esteller, a cancer epigeneticist at the Josep Carreras Institute in Spain, told Live Science.
It's important to note, however, that not all researchers are convinced that studying centenarians—people aged 110 and over—is an effective way to understand longevity. That's partly because the actual ages of these people have been called into question.
Biology of Longevity
According to Guinness World Records, the only organization that verifies age records, Brañas was born in San Francisco in 1907 and lived in Texas and Louisiana before moving to Spain in 1915 with her Spanish-born parents. Except for hearing loss and mobility issues, she remained healthy and cognitively sharp until her death.
Esteller and his team examined Brañas’s genes, immune cells, blood lipid levels, and proteins in her tissues, comparing her results with those of younger people who had undergone similar testing. For example, they compared Brañas’s genetic data with those of 75 other Iberian women in the 1000 Genomes Project, which aims to map variations in the human genome.
The analysis identified seven rare genetic variants in the Branyas genome that were not found in European populations.
These variants, or unique versions of genes, were linked to cognitive function, immune function, lung function, cardiovascular disease, cancer and autoimmune disorders. They could protect against these diseases and improve organ function, the scientists suggested.
Branyas was also found to have excellent mitochondrial function, meaning the energy-producing structures that supply cells with energy, were functioning better than those of younger women. She also had healthy cholesterol levels and high production of proteins that are beneficial to the immune system.
Based on stool samples, her gut microbiome differed from that of 61- to 91-year-olds previously studied. Specifically, she had high levels of Actinobacteria, which typically decline with age. Bifidobacterium, which is known to secrete anti-inflammatory compounds, was particularly prevalent. This contrasts with the “typical decline in this genus of bacteria in older adults,” the study authors noted.
“She had these bacteria in her gut that were protective against inflammation, and that was due to two things,” Esteller speculated. “The genome was very favorable for the population, but [it was also] a result of her diet.” Branyas reported
Sourse: www.livescience.com
