Epigenetic changes in sperm are associated with paternal and child quantitative autistic traits in an autism-enriched cohort.

ABSTRACT: There is a need to consider paternal contributions to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) more strongly. Autism etiology is complex, and heritability is not explained by genetics alone. Understanding paternal gametic epigenetic contributions to autism could help fill this knowledge gap. In the present study, we explored whether paternal autistic traits, and the sperm epigenome, were associated with autistic traits in children at 36 months enrolled in the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) cohort. EARLI is a pregnancy cohort that recruited and enrolled pregnant women in the first half of pregnancy who already had a child with ASD. After maternal enrollment, EARLI fathers were approached and asked to provide a semen specimen. Participants were included in the present study if th

SUBMITTER: Feinberg JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12450096 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature