Long-Term Effects of Delayed Fatherhood in Mice on Postnatal Development and Behavioral Traits of Offspring.

Biol Reprod. 2008 Oct 15. [Epub ahead of print]
Long-Term Effects of Delayed Fatherhood in Mice on Postnatal Development and Behavioral Traits of Offspring.
García-Palomares S, Pertusa JF, Miñarro J, García-Pérez MA, Hermenegildo C, Rausell F, Cano A, Tarín JJ.
This study aims to analyze, in mice, the long-term effects of delayed fatherhood on postnatal development, spontaneous motor activity and learning capacity of offspring. Hybrid parental-generation (F0) males, at the age of 12, 70, 100, and 120 weeks, were individually housed with a randomly-selected 12 week-old hybrid female. The resulting first-generation (F1) offspring were tested for several developmental and behavioral variables. Cumulative percentage of F1 pups that attained immediate righting in the 120-week group was lower than that found in the 12-, 70- and 100-week groups. Furthermore, the postnatal day of attaining immediate righting was higher in pups from the 120-week group when compared to pups from the other age groups. At the age of 20 weeks, F1 offspring from the 120-week group displayed lower counts of motor activity than offspring from the 12-, 70- and 100-week groups. One week later, a higher percentage of offspring from the 100- and 120- groups entered the dark compartment during the retention trial of the passive avoidance test when compared to offspring from the 12-week group. Offspring from the 120-week group exhibited also lower step-through latency in the retention trial than offspring from the 12-, 70- and 100-week groups. These results show that advanced paternal age at conception has long-term effects on preweaning development, spontaneous motor activity and reduced passive-avoidance learning capacity of mouse offspring.
PMID: 18923158 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]