The paternal contribution to shaping the health of future generations

Christopher Casciaro; Hirotaka Hamada; Enrrico Bloise; Stephen G Matthews

doi:10.1016/j.tem.2024.10.007

The paternal contribution to shaping the health of future generations

Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Nov 18:S1043-2760(24)00275-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2024.10.007. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Christopher Casciaro¹, Hirotaka Hamada², Enrrico Bloise³, Stephen G Matthews⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
³ Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Morphology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health Systems, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39562264
DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2024.10.007

Abstract

Paternal health and exposure to adverse environments in the period prior to conception have a profound impact on future generations. Adversities such as stress, diet, and toxicants influence offspring health. Emerging evidence indicates that epigenetic mechanisms including noncoding RNA, DNA methylation, and chromatin remodelling mediate these effects. Preclinical studies have contributed to advancing mechanistic understanding in the field; however, human research is limited and primarily observational. Here, we discuss the evidence linking paternal to offspring health and advocate for further research in this area, which may ultimately inform policy and healthcare guidelines to improve paternal preconception health and offspring outcomes.

Keywords: developmental origins of health and disease; epigenetics; paternal intergenerational/transgenerational transmission; sperm.

Publication types

Review