Advancing paternal age and risk of autism: new evidence from a population-based study and a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

The effects of advanced paternal age on fertility

“…82 While the etiology of autism is not well understood, recent studies provide compelling evidence for a strong genetic link along with possible environmental influences. 83 Hultman et al 83 examined a Swedish 10-year birth cohort (n51 075 588) via linkage to a national autism patient registry to identify all reported autism cases (n5883). Following a meta-analysis, the authors found that the risk of autism increased with APA; 83 the increase was especially evident in the offspring of men .50 years old who were 2.2 times more likely to have autism than those children born to fathers aged 29 years or younger.…”

“…83 Hultman et al 83 examined a Swedish 10-year birth cohort (n51 075 588) via linkage to a national autism patient registry to identify all reported autism cases (n5883). Following a meta-analysis, the authors found that the risk of autism increased with APA; 83 the increase was especially evident in the offspring of men .50 years old who were 2.2 times more likely to have autism than those children born to fathers aged 29 years or younger. 83 The authors concluded that a strong monotonic relationship existed between paternal age and autism, with fathers aged .50 years having a 2.7-fold increased risk of having an autistic offspring.…”

“…Following a meta-analysis, the authors found that the risk of autism increased with APA; 83 the increase was especially evident in the offspring of men .50 years old who were 2.2 times more likely to have autism than those children born to fathers aged 29 years or younger. 83 The authors concluded that a strong monotonic relationship existed between paternal age and autism, with fathers aged .50 years having a 2.7-fold increased risk of having an autistic offspring. 83 Similar findings were noted in a recent study by Kong et al 84 who examined the genome-wide mutation rates of 78 Icelandic parent-offspring trios.…”

“…83 The authors concluded that a strong monotonic relationship existed between paternal age and autism, with fathers aged .50 years having a 2.7-fold increased risk of having an autistic offspring. 83 Similar findings were noted in a recent study by Kong et al 84 who examined the genome-wide mutation rates of 78 Icelandic parent-offspring trios. Through whole genome sequencing, the authors discovered that mutations in single nucleotide polymorphisms were largely influenced by paternal age.…”

Advancing paternal age at birth is associated with poorer social functioning earlier and later in life of schizophrenia patients in a founder population

“…Growing evidence suggests that, independent of maternal age, the offspring of older fathers are more susceptible to a wide range of conditions (Goriely et al, 2012). Studies have shown consistent associations of advanced paternal age (APA) with an increased risk of schizophrenia in offspring (Malaspina et al, 2001) as well as a range of other psychiatric morbidities, such as autism spectrum disorders (Grether et al, 2009;Hultman et al, 2011), bipolar disorder (Frans et al, 2008), epilepsy (Vestergraad et al, 2005), obsessivecompulsive disorder (Wu et al, 2012) and reduced cognitive abilities in infancy and childhood (Saha et al, 2009). There appears to remain a notable lack of consensus on how to define what constitutes advanced paternal age itself.…”