Acid phosphatase (ACP1) is a polymorphic enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of flavinmononucleotide (FMN) to riboflavin and regulates the cellular concentration of flavin-adeninedinucleotide (FAD) and, consequently, energy metabolism. Its activity is modulated by adenosine deaminase (ADA1) genotype. Aim of our work is to verify whether individuals with a high proportion of ACP1 f isozyme and carrying ADA*2 allele, displaying the highest phosphatase activity, may have a higher life expectancy. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 569 females and 509 males (18-106 years) randomly recruited from Central Italy. These samples were subdivided into three sexspecific age groups (the ages of women are in square bracket): Class 1:age \u3c66 [\u3c73]; Class 2: age 66-88 [73-91]; Class 3: age \u3e88 [\u3e91]. ACP1 and ADA1 SNPs were genotyped by RFLP-PCR methods and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 14.0. The results showed a larger proportion of Class 3 individuals displaying high ACP1 f isozyme concen ration and carrying ADA1*2 allele than those of Class 2 and Class 2+1. Thus, we postulate that in Class 3 individuals the high phosphatase activity, resulting from the combined presence of high ACP1 f isozyme concentration and the ADA1*2 allele, lowers the rate of glycolysis which may reduce the amount of metabolic calories and, in turn, activate Sirtuin genes that protect cells against age-related diseases
