The Phenotypic Characterization of the Cammalleri Sisters, an Example of Exceptional Longevity

The present paper shows demographic, clinical, anamnestic, cognitive, and functional data as well as biochemical, genetic, and epigenetic parameters of two exceptional siblings: Diega (supercentenarian) and Filippa (semi-supercentenarian) Cammalleri. The purpose of this study is to provide new insights into the extreme phenotypes represented by semi and supercentenarians. Different studies have been published on supercentenarians, but to best of our knowledge, this is the only concerning two siblings and well detailed from a phenotypic point of view. Our findings agree with the suggestion that supercentenarians have an increasing relative resistance to age-related diseases, approximating the limits of the functional human reserve to address successfully the acute causes of death. More interestingly, our data agree with, and extend, the suggestion that inflammation and oxidative stress predict centenarian mortality.