Non-disjunction in human sperm: evidence for an effect of increasing paternal age

Abstract

In humans, the relationship between advancing maternal age and the incidence of trisomy has been long established, but the possible effect of increasing age of the father remains controversial. Using a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) approach to directly examine individual sperm for aneuploidy of the sex chromosomes and chromosome 18, we have analyzed ∼400 000 sperm from 24 men aged 18–60 years. There was no obvious relationship between increasing age and disomy 18, but the incidence of XY, YY and XX disomy all were significantly elevated among older men. This suggests that older men, like older women, have an increased likelihood of producing aneuploid offspring by comparison with their younger counterparts.