ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2012
Delayed paternal age of reproduction in humans is associated with longer telomeres across two generations of descendants.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 198 citations in OpenAlex.
- Telomere length analysis from minimally-invasively collected samples: Methods development and meta-analysis of the validity of different sampling techniques: American Journal of Human Biology.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2021Pooled it
- Body mass index is negatively associated with telomere length: a collaborative cross-sectional meta-analysis of 87 observational studies.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2018Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of telomere length in 19,713 subjects reveals high heritability, stronger maternal inheritance and a paternal age effect.European journal of human genetics : EJHG · 2013Pooled it
- Influence of age on sperm characteristics evaluated by light and electron microscopies.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Mothers Matter Most: Maternal, but Not Paternal, Age and Inbreeding Affect Nestling Telomere Length in a Wild Passerine.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- A parent-of-origin effect on embryonic telomere elongation determines telomere length inheritance.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Paternal effects on telomere integrity during the sperm-to-embryo transition.Current opinion in genetics & development · 2025Review
- Exposure to metal mixtures and telomere length in Bangladeshi children.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Paternal contributions to telomere reprogramming in fetal development.International journal of biochemistry and molecular biology · 2025Article
- Paternal Contributions to Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Therapeutic Approaches.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Review
- The influence of perceived stress and motivation on telomere length among NCAA swimmers.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2024Article
- Telomeres and SIRT1 as Biomarkers of Gamete Oxidative Stress, Fertility, and Potential IVF Outcome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Evaluation of telomere length and telomerase activity on predicting in vitro fertilization treatment outcomes.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2024Review
- Telomeres and telomerase: active but complex players in life-history decisions.Biogerontology · 2024Review
- Telomere Dynamics in Livestock.Biology · 2023Review
- Male reproductive ageing: a radical road to ruin.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- A pilot study of LINE-1 copy number and telomere length with aging in human sperm.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2023Article
- Developmental origins of health and disease: Impact of paternal nutrition and lifestyle.Pediatric investigation · 2023Review
- Review
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Telomeres are repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that protect and buffer genes from nucleotide loss as cells divide. Telomere length (TL) shortens with age in most proliferating tissues, limiting cell division and thereby contributing to senescence. However, TL increases with age in sperm, and, correspondingly, offspring of older fathers inherit longer telomeres. Using data and samples from a longitudinal study from the Philippines, we first replicate the finding that paternal age at birth is associated with longer TL in offspring (n = 2,023, P = 1.84 × 10(-6)). We then show that this association of paternal age with offspring TL is cumulative across multiple generations: in this sample, grandchildren of older paternal grandfathers at the birth of fathers have longer telomeres (n = 234, P = 0.038), independent of, and additive to, the association of their father's age at birth with TL. The lengthening of telomeres predicted by each year that the father's or grandfather's reproduction are delayed is equal to the yearly shortening of TL seen in middle-age to elderly women in this sample, pointing to potentially important impacts on health and the pace of senescent decline in tissues and systems that are cell-replication dependent. This finding suggests a mechanism by which humans could extend late-life function as average age at reproduction is delayed within a lineage.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.