Parental Age and Schizophrenia

1966 ◽  
Vol 112 (490) ◽  
pp. 899-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Granville-Grossman
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Considerable Importance ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Advanced Paternal Age ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Maternal Age Effect ◽  
Environmental Causes

Reports that schizophrenics have older parents than non-schizophrenics (Barry, 1945; Goodman, 1957; Johanson, 1958; Gregory, 1959) are of considerable importance. If valid, they provide evidence for environmental causes of schizophrenia, and by analogy with other conditions where parental age effects have been noted may give some indication of the nature of these causes. There are, however, inconsistencies in these studies: thus Johanson and Gregory found a significant association between advanced paternal age and schizophrenia, but failed to confirm the maternal age effect noted by Barry and Goodman. These differences indicate the need for further investigation and this paper describes such a study.

scholarly journals Impact of Paternal Age at Conception on Human Health

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Simard ◽  
Catherine Laprise ◽  
Simon L Girard
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
De Novo Mutations ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Offspring Health ◽  
Paternal Age Effect

Abstract BACKGROUND The effect of maternal age at conception on various aspects of offspring health is well documented and often discussed. We seldom hear about the paternal age effect on offspring health, although the link is now almost as solid as with maternal age. The causes behind this, however, are drastically different between males and females. CONTENT In this review article, we will first examine documented physiological changes linked to paternal age effect. We will start with all morphological aspects of the testis that have been shown to be altered with aging. We will then move on to all the parameters of spermatogenesis that are linked with paternal age at conception. The biggest part of this review will focus on genetic changes associated with paternal age effects. Several studies that have established a strong link between paternal age at conception and the rate of de novo mutations will be reviewed. We will next discuss paternal age effects associated with telomere length and try to better understand the seemingly contradictory results. Finally, severe diseases that affect brain functions and normal development have been associated with older paternal age at conception. In this context, we will discuss the cases of autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia, as well as several childhood cancers. SUMMARY In many Western civilizations, the age at which parents have their first child has increased substantially in recent decades. It is important to summarize major health issues associated with an increased paternal age at conception to better model public health systems.

scholarly journals Biparental age effects in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Cope ◽  
Edward Ivimey-Cook ◽  
Jacob Moorad
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Laboratory Population ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

AbstractParental age at reproduction influences offspring size and survival by affecting prenatal and postnatal conditions in a wide variety of species, including humans. However, most investigations into this manifestation of ageing focus upon maternal age effects; the effects of paternal age and interactions between maternal and paternal age are often neglected. Furthermore, even when maternal age effects are studied, pre- and postnatal effects are confounded. Using a cross-fostered experimental design, we investigated the joint effects of paternal and pre- and postnatal maternal ages on numerous offspring outcomes in a laboratory population of a species of burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides. When we correct our tests for significance for multiple comparisons, we found no clear evidence for any parental effect senescence acting on egg size, larval weight, or larval survival. Nor did we find a statistical effect of paternal or egg producer age on the outcomes of foster mothers as measured by weight change experienced during caregiving. These findings are consistent with recent negative results reported in a similar study of N. vespilloides maternal age effects while also expanding these to other offspring traits and to paternal age effects. We discuss how the peculiar life history of this species may promote selection to resist the evolution of parental age effects, and how this might have influenced our ability to detect senescence.

Parental breeding age effects on descendants’ longevity interact over two generations in matrilines and patrilines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zac Wylde ◽  
Foteini Spagopoulou ◽  
Amy K Hooper ◽  
Alexei A Maklakov ◽  
Russell Bonduriansky
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Larval Diet ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Two Generations

Individuals within populations vary enormously in mortality risk and longevity, but the causes of this variation remain poorly understood. A potentially important and phylogenetically widespread source of such variation is maternal age at breeding, which typically has negative effects on offspring longevity. Here, we show that paternal age can affect offspring longevity as strongly as maternal age does, and that breeding age effects can interact over two generations in both matrilines and patrilines. We manipulated maternal and paternal ages at breeding over two generations in the neriid fly Telostylinus angusticollis. To determine whether breeding age effects can be modulated by the environment, we also manipulated larval diet and male competitive environment in the first generation. We found separate and interactive effects of parental and grandparental ages at breeding on descendants’ mortality rate and lifespan in both matrilines and patrilines. These breeding age effects were not modulated by grandparental larval diet quality or competitive environment. Our findings suggest that variation in maternal and paternal ages at breeding could contribute substantially to intra-population variation in mortality and longevity.

MATERNAL AGE EFFECT ASSOCIATED WITH YELLOW PIGMENT IN MALPIGHIAN TUBES OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

1973 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Nickla
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Age Effect ◽  
Yellow Pigment ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Young Females ◽  
Maternal Age Effect ◽  
Related Compounds ◽  
Pigment Accumulation ◽  
Rna And Dna

Using chromatographic and fluorometric methods a maternal age effect was demonstrated which involves yellow pigment accumulation in the Malpighian tubes of light (lt) flies. As age of females (lt+/lt and lt/lt) increases, yellow pigment accumulation in lt/lt offspring increases. The influence of maternal age is most dramatic in young females aged 1 to 5 days prior to mating. In addition, fertility decreases as maternal age increases. A medium effect was noted whereby females reared on fresh medium produce lt/lt offspring with slightly more yellow pigment in their Malpighian tubes than offspring of females reared on "worked" medium. The opposite effect was observed for fertility. Results are discussed in terms of accumulation of pteridines (and closely related compounds) as females age and changes in RNA and DNA content in the eggs of aging females.

scholarly journals Telomere length in house sparrows increases in early-life and can be paternally inherited

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Bennett ◽  
Antje Girndt ◽  
Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
Mirre J. P. Simons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Ageing Rate ◽  
Insight Into

Offspring of older parents in many species display decreased longevity, a faster ageing rate and lower fecundity than offspring born to younger parents. Biomarkers, such as telomeres, that tend to shorten as individual age, may provide insight into the mechanisms of parental age effects. Parental age could determine telomere length either through inheritance of shortened telomeres or through indirect effects, such as variation in parental care with parent ages, which in turn might lead to variation in offspring telomere length. There is no current consensus as to the heritability of telomere length, and the direction and extent of parental age effects however. To address this, here we experimentally investigate how parental age is associated with telomere length at two time points in early life in a captive population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We experimentally separated parental age from sex effects by allowing the parent birds to only mate with young, or old partners. We found that telomere length of the offspring increased between the age of 0.5 and 3 months at the group and individual level, which has been reported previously predominantly in non-avian taxa. We further show that older fathers produced daughters with a greater early-life increase in telomere length, supporting sex-specific inheritance, and or sex-specific non-genetic effects. Overall, our results highlight the need for more studies testing early-life telomere dynamics and sex-specific heritability of telomere length.

scholarly journals Associations of parental age with offspring all-cause and cause-specific adult mortality

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Carslake ◽  
Per Tynelius ◽  
Gerard J. van den Berg ◽  
George Davey Smith
Keyword(s):  
Adult Mortality ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Childhood Environment ◽  
Sibling Comparison ◽  
Common Causes

AbstractPeople are having children later in life. The consequences for offspring adult survival have been little studied due to the need for long follow-up linked to parental data and most research has considered offspring survival only in early life. We used Swedish registry data to examine all-cause and cause-specific adult mortality (293,470 deaths among 5,204,433 people, followed up to a maximum of 80 years old) in relation to parental age. For most common causes of death adult survival was improved in the offspring of older parents (HR for all-cause survival was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.96, 0.97) and 0.98 (0.97, 0.98) per five years of maternal and paternal age, respectively). The childhood environment provided by older parents may more than compensate for any physiological disadvantages. Within-family analyses suggested stronger benefits of advanced parental age. This emphasises the importance of secular trends; a parent’s later children were born into a wealthier, healthier world. Sibling-comparison analyses can best assess individual family planning choices, but our results suggested a vulnerability to selection bias when there is extensive censoring. We consider the numerous causal and non-causal mechanisms which can link parental age and offspring survival, and the difficulty of separating them with currently available data.

scholarly journals Advanced paternal age is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous miscarriage: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 650-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia A du Fossé ◽  
Marie-Louise P van der Hoorn ◽  
Jan M M van Lith ◽  
Saskia le Cessie ◽  
Eileen E L O Lashley
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Advanced Maternal Age ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Advanced Paternal Age ◽  
Spontaneous Miscarriage ◽  
Risk Estimates ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract BACKGROUND Although spontaneous miscarriage is the most common complication of human pregnancy, potential contributing factors are not fully understood. Advanced maternal age has long been recognised as a major risk factor for miscarriage, being strongly related with fetal chromosomal abnormalities. The relation between paternal age and the risk of miscarriage is less evident, yet it is biologically plausible that an increasing number of genetic and epigenetic sperm abnormalities in older males may contribute to miscarriage. Previous meta-analyses showed associations between advanced paternal age and a broad spectrum of perinatal and paediatric outcomes. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis on paternal age and spontaneous miscarriage. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the effect of paternal age on the risk of spontaneous miscarriage. SEARCH METHODS PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched to identify relevant studies up to August 2019. The following free text and MeSH terms were used: paternal age, father’s age, male age, husband’s age, spontaneous abortion, spontaneous miscarriage, abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, fetal loss and fetal death. PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analysis were followed. Original research articles in English language addressing the relation between paternal age and spontaneous miscarriage were included. Exclusion criteria were studies that solely focused on pregnancy outcomes following artificial reproductive technology (ART) and studies that did not adjust their effect estimates for at least maternal age. Risk of bias was qualitatively described for three domains: bias due to confounding, information bias and selection bias. OUTCOMES The search resulted in 975 original articles. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Nine of these studies were included in the quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis). Advanced paternal age was found to be associated with an increased risk of miscarriage. Pooled risk estimates for miscarriage for age categories 30–34, 35–39, 40–44 and ≥45 years of age were 1.04 (95% CI 0.90, 1.21), 1.15 (0.92, 1.43), 1.23 (1.06, 1.43) and 1.43 (1.13, 1.81) respectively (reference category 25–29 years). A second meta-analysis was performed for the subgroup of studies investigating first trimester miscarriage. This showed similar pooled risk estimates for the first three age categories and a slightly higher pooled risk estimate for age category ≥45 years (1.74; 95% CI 1.26, 2.41). WIDER IMPLICATIONS Over the last decades, childbearing at later ages has become more common. It is known that frequencies of adverse reproductive outcomes, including spontaneous miscarriage, are higher in women with advanced age. We show that advanced paternal age is also associated with an increased risk of spontaneous miscarriage. Although the paternal age effect is less pronounced than that observed with advanced maternal age and residual confounding by maternal age cannot be excluded, it may have implications for preconception counselling of couples comprising an older aged male.

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