Paternal Age and Risk of Autism in an Ethnically Diverse, Non-Industrialized Setting: Aruba

Men's Baby Clocks Tick Loudly, Too

Men's Baby Clocks Tick Loudly, Too

Study: Father’s age affects schizophrenia and autism risk in kids

Study: Father’s age affects schizophrenia and autism risk in kids 

Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2010 Oct 5;153B(7):1329-35.

Older paternal age strongly increases the morbidity for schizophrenia in sisters of affected females.

Perrin M, Harlap S, Kleinhaus K, Lichtenberg P, Manor O, Draiman B, Fennig S, Malaspina D.

Source

Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA. mary.perrin@nyumc.org

Abstract

The effect of a family history of schizophrenia on the risk for this disorder in the offspring has rarely been examined in a prospective population cohort accounting for the sex of the proband and the first-degree relatives, and certainly not with respect to later paternal age. The influence of affected relatives on offspring risk of schizophrenia was estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression in models that accounted for sex, relation of affected first degree relatives and paternal age in the prospective population-based cohort of the Jerusalem Perinatal Schizophrenia Study. Of all first-degree relatives, an affected mother conferred the highest risk to male and female offspring among the cases with paternal age <35 0.03="0.03" 0.7-6.7="0.7-6.7" 2.2="2.2" 8.8="8.8" 95="95" affected="affected" an="an" between="between" by="by" ci="ci" class="highlight" contrast="contrast" fathers="fathers" female="female" females="females" for="for" fourfold="fourfold" greater="greater" had="had" highest="highest" however="however" interaction="interaction" of="of" offspring="offspring" older="older" risk="risk" seen="seen" significant="significant" sister="sister" sisters="sisters" span="span" test="test" than="than" the="the" to="to" was="was" with="with" years="years" younger="younger">schizophrenia

to brothers of affected males was only doubled between older (RR = 3.3, 95% 1.6-6.6) and younger fathers (RR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.7-3.5). The most striking finding from this study was the very large increase in risk of schizophrenia to sisters of affected females born to older fathers. The authors speculate that the hypothesized paternally expressed genes on the X chromosome might play some role in these observations.

Schizophr Res. 2011 Dec;133(1-3):120-4. Epub 2011 Oct 14.

Advanced paternal and grandpaternal age and schizophrenia: a three-generation perspective.

Frans EM, McGrath JJ, Sandin S, Lichtenstein P, Reichenberg A, Långström N, Hultman CM.

Source

Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Advanced paternal age has been linked with an increased risk of schizophrenia in the offspring. If age-related de novo mutations in the male germ line underlie this association, grandpaternal and paternal age would both be expected to influence the risk of schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to explore the links between both paternal and grandpaternal age with respect to the risk of schizophrenia in a large, national register-based cohort.

METHOD:

We linked the Swedish Multi-Generation and Hospital Discharge Registers and compared parents' ages at offspring birth for 20,582 schizophrenia-affected and 100,176 non-affected individuals. Grandparents' ages at the birth of the parent were compared between 2511 affected and 15,619 non-affected individuals. The risk of schizophrenia was examined with logistic regression when the predictor variable (parent or grandparent age) varied across age strata.

RESULTS:

After adjusting for maternal age, birth year and proband sex, we confirmed that offspring of older fathers had an increased risk of schizophrenia. Compared to those with paternal age 20-24years, those with fathers >55years had a two-fold increased risk of schizophrenia. With respect to grandparent age, older maternal (but not paternal) grandfather age was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia. Compared to maternal grandfather age 20-24years, those with maternal grandfathers >55years had a significantly increased risk of schizophrenia (adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals; 2.79, 1.71-4.56). The pattern of results was essentially unchanged when we examined male and female probands separately.

CONCLUSION:

This is the first study to report an association between grandpaternal age and risk of schizophrenia. The selective effect of advanced maternal grandfather age suggests that the biological mechanisms involving the X-chromosome may differentially contribute to the association between paternal age and offspring risk of schizophrenia.
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.