Skip Navigation



Human Reproduction Update Advance Access published online on August 20, 2009
Human Reproduction Update, doi:10.1093/humupd/dmp027
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sartorius, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Nieschlag, E.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sartorius, G. A.
Right arrow Articles by Nieschlag, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Paternal age and reproduction

Gideon A. Sartorius1,2 and Eberhard Nieschlag1,3

1 Centre of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology of the University, Domagkstrasse 11, D-48149 Muenster, Germany

To whom correspondence should be addressed at: 3 Correspondence address. E-mail: eberhard.nieschlag{at}ukmuenster.de

BACKGROUND: Due to various sociological factors, couples in developed countries are increasingly delaying childbearing. Besides ethical, economical and sociological issues, this trend presents us with several complex problems in reproduction. Although it is well-known that maternal age has a negative effect on fertility and increases the risk of adverse outcome during pregnancy and in offspring, the paternal influence on these outcomes is less well researched and not well-known.

METHODS: We performed a systematic search of PubMed, and retrieved original articles and review articles to update our previous survey in this journal.

RESULTS: This review highlights the link between male age and genetic abnormalities in the germ line and summarizes the knowledge about the effects of paternal age on reproductive function and outcome. Increasing paternal age can be associated with decreasing androgen levels, decreased sexual activity, alterations of testicular morphology and a deterioration of semen quality (volume, motility, morphology). Increased paternal age has an influence on DNA integrity of sperm, increases telomere length in spermatozoa and is suggested to have epigenetic effects. These changes may, at least in part, be responsible for the association of paternal age over 40 years with reduced fertility, an increase in pregnancy-associated complications and adverse outcome in the offspring.

CONCLUSION: Although higher maternal age can be an indication for intensive prenatal diagnosis, including invasive diagnostics, consideration of the available evidence suggests that paternal age itself, however, provides no rationale for invasive procedures.

Key words: aging male / semen parameters / fertility / genetic risk / pregnancy complications

2 Present address: University Women's Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland

Received on September 18, 2008; revised July 13, 2009; accepted on July 20, 2009


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.