May 2007 PATERNAL AGE AND AUTISM ARE ASSOCIATED IN A FAMILY-BASED SAMPLE

Letter to the Editor
Molecular Psychiatry (2007) 12, 419–421. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001966

Paternal age and autism are associated in a family-based sample
R M Cantor1,2,3, J L Yoon1, J Furr4 and C M Lajonchere3,4,5

1Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
3AGRE Consortium, Los Angeles, CA, USA
4Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, Cure Autism Now, Los Angeles, CA, USA
5Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, CA, USA
Correspondence: RM Cantor, E-mail: rcantor@mednet.ucla.edu


PMID: 17453057 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

The paternal age distribution of the AGRE fathers, whose first child is autistic differs significantly from that of the 'control' sample (P=0.005). A 2 goodness-of-fit test with 2 degrees of freedom was conducted using percents in the 'control' group age categories to calculate the expected values in the AGRE sample. The shift toward higher paternal ages in those with an affected first-born is seen most dramatically in the group of AGRE fathers who are 30–39 years inclusive, which is 54.7% of the distribution compared with the 41.9 % that is expected. We interpret this shifted age distribution to provide support for the recently reported finding by Reichenberg and co-workers that autism risk is associated with advancing paternal age.