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Paternal age and autism are associated in a family-based sample

Molecular Psychiatry volume 12, pages 419–421 (2007)Cite this article

Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental brain disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication, the presence of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, and an onset before the age of 3.1 Although its etiology remains unknown, evidence suggests that autism is highly heritable, genetically heterogeneous,2 and likely to be influenced by environmental factors.3 A recent article by Reichenberg and co-workers4 reported a significant association between paternal age at birth and a child's risk for developing autism. This association was identified in a subset of 132 161 individuals with complete information on parental age that was derived from a larger cohort of 318 506 Israeli births occurring over a 6-year period during the 1980's. When paternal ages were examined across five increasing categories, the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increased monotonically, going from 10 to 107 per 10 000 births. Given this report, we were motivated to investigate whether data from the autism genetic resource exchange (AGRE),5 would also exhibit this association.

AGRE is a DNA repository and family registry created by Cure Autism Now that has been recruiting families through a variety of methods including physician referral, web site contact and family meetings and seminars, and making their DNA and diagnoses available to interested researchers since 1998. To be included, families must have at least two members that meet criteria for a diagnosis of an ASD. There are no restrictions regarding the age, ethnicity or socioeconomic status of the participants, and as long as there are two affected with ASD, parity is not considered. The families are primarily nuclear, and of the current 1419 registered families, 830 have complete clinical data and biomaterials available for investigations. The majority of the sample (75%) is Caucasian and non-Hispanic and 37% of the families are from the West coast, with most of those from California. The ASD offspring participating in the current study were all born within the last 35 years, and a majority within the last 15 years. Paternal and maternal ages, along with brief family histories and other demographic information, are collected during the screening process.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    R M Cantor & J L Yoon

  2. Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    R M Cantor

  3. AGRE Consortium, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    R M Cantor & C M Lajonchere

  4. Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, Cure Autism Now, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    J Furr & C M Lajonchere

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, CA, USA

    C M Lajonchere

Authors
  1. R M Cantor
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  2. J L Yoon
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  4. C M Lajonchere
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Correspondence to R M Cantor.

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Cantor, R., Yoon, J., Furr, J. et al. Paternal age and autism are associated in a family-based sample. Mol Psychiatry 12, 419–421 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001966

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