Maternal immunological tolerance of the semiallogeneic fetus involves several overlapping mechanisms to balance maternal immunity and fetal development. Anti-paternal CD8 ؉ T cells are suppressed during pregnancy in some but not all mouse models. Since semen has been shown to mediate immune modulation, we tested whether exposure to paternal Ag during insemination activated or tolerized anti-pat...

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between paternal serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)DNA levels and father to infant vertical transmission. A total of 202 couples with mothers who tested positive for prenatal hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) were included in the observation group, while 196 couples with mothers who tested negative for prenatal anti-HBs were included in the cont...

BACKGROUND The transgenerational metabolic effects of betel-quid chewing have been reported in mice but not in humans. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine whether exposure to paternal chewing of betel nut quids led to an increased risk of early manifestation of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in human offspring. DESIGN The subjects were selected from 66,971 residents aged >19 y who attend...

The Angelman/Prader-Willi syndrome (AS/PWS) domain contains at least 8 imprinted genes regulated by a bipartite imprinting center (IC) associated with the SNRPN gene. One component of the IC, the PWS-IC, governs the paternal epigenotype and expression of paternal genes. The mechanisms by which imprinting and expression of paternal genes within the AS/PWS domain - such as MKRN3 and NDN - are reg...

BACKGROUND The ooplasm plays a central role in forming the paternal pronucleus, and subsequently in regulating the expression of paternally inherited chromosomes. Previous studies in mice have revealed genetic differences in paternal genome processing by ooplasm of different genotypes. Ooplasm donation coupled to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has been used in human assisted reproducti...

While there is a well-established literature on the detrimental effects of maternal depression on infant-mother interaction and on infant development, the association between paternal postpartum depression and infant development has been rarely investigated. The relative newness of research on paternal postpartum depression, inconsistent research methods, lack of standardized guidelines, clinic...

Paternal age at conception has been found to predict the number of new genetic mutations. We examined the effect of father’s age at birth on offspring intelligence, head circumference and personality traits. Using the Minnesota Twin Family Study sample we tested paternal age effects while controlling for parents’ trait levels measured with the same precision as offspring’s. From evolutionary ge...

The impact of paternal age on reproduction, especially using assisted reproductive technologies, has not been well studied to date. To investigate the effect of paternal age on reproductive outcomes, here we performed a retrospective analysis of 2,627 intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles performed at the Reproductive Medicine Center of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medica...

The existence of genetic variation in offspring size in plants and animals is puzzling because offspring size is often strongly associated with fitness and expected to be under stabilizing selection. An explanation for variation in seed size is conflict between parents and between parents and offspring. However, for this hypothesis to be true, it must be shown that the offspring genotype can af...

OBJECTIVE To explore potential mediating and moderating factors that influence the association between paternal depression in the postnatal period and subsequent child behavioral and emotional problems. METHODS A population-based cohort (N = 13,822) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) was recruited during pregnancy. Paternal and maternal depressive symptoms were ...