ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2018
The paternal age at conception effect on offspring telomere length: mechanistic, comparative and adaptive perspectives.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Shorter Telomeres and Faster Telomere Attrition in Individuals With Five Syndromic Forms of Intellectual Disability: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- IMSI does not improve pregnancy outcomes and live birth rate in severe teratozoospermia patients: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Maternal and early-life arsenic exposure and relative telomere length in children: Findings from the BiRCH cohort.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Beyond semen analysis: in men with normal semen parameters telomere attrition and oxidative imbalance distinguish those fertile from those with infertility.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Mothers Matter Most: Maternal, but Not Paternal, Age and Inbreeding Affect Nestling Telomere Length in a Wild Passerine.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Clinical Implications of Paternal Age in Assisted Reproduction: Integrating Sperm Epigenetic Evidence.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Exploring the Link Between Telomeres and Mitochondria: Mechanisms and Implications in Different Cell Types.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Paternal contributions to telomere reprogramming in fetal development.International journal of biochemistry and molecular biology · 2025Article
- Resveratrol intake by males increased the mitochondrial DNA copy number and telomere length of blastocysts derived from aged mice.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2024Article
- Article
- Reproductive Ageing: Current insights and a potential role of NAD in the reproductive health of aging fathers and their children.Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2024Review
- Advanced Paternal Age in Focus: Unraveling Its Influence on Assisted Reproductive Technology Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Sex and early-life conditions shape telomere dynamics in an ectotherm.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Association Between Adverse Early Life Factors and Telomere Length in Middle and Late Life.Innovation in aging · 2024Article
- Involvement of Inheritance in Determining Telomere Length beyond Environmental and Lifestyle Factors.Aging and disease · 2023Review
- Sub-optimal maternal gestational gain is associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length at birth in a predominantly Latinx cohort of newborns.Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology · 2023Article
- Telomere Dynamics in Livestock.Biology · 2023Review
- Developmental origins of health and disease: Impact of paternal nutrition and lifestyle.Pediatric investigation · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Telomeres are repeating DNA found at the ends of chromosomes that, in the absence of restorative processes, shorten with cell replications and are implicated as a cause of senescence. It appears that sperm telomere length (TL) increases with age in humans, and as a result offspring of older fathers inherit longer telomeres. We review possible mechanisms underlying this paternal age at conception (PAC) effect on TL, including sperm telomere extension due to telomerase activity, age-dependent changes in the spermatogonial stem cell population (possibly driven by 'selfish' spermatogonia) and non-causal confounding. In contrast to the lengthening of TL with PAC, higher maternal age at conception appears to predict shorter offspring TL in humans. We review evidence for heterogeneity across species in the PAC effect on TL, which could relate to differences in statistical power, sperm production rates or testicular telomerase activity. Finally, we review the hypothesis that the PAC effect on TL may allow a gradual multi-generational adaptive calibration of maintenance effort, and reproductive lifespan, to local demographic conditions: descendants of males who reproduced at a later age are likely to find themselves in an environment where increased maintenance effort, allowing later reproduction, represents a fitness improving resource allocation.This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics'.
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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.