Alicia García-Alcón , Javier González-Peñas , María José Penzol , Diego Gerez , Mónica Burdeus , Elisa Weckx , Álvaro Andreu-Bernabeu , Carmen Moreno , Mara Parellada
{"title":"An exploratory analysis of parental autism traits, age at conception and polygenic background in Autism Spectrum Disorders","authors":"Alicia García-Alcón , Javier González-Peñas , María José Penzol , Diego Gerez , Mónica Burdeus , Elisa Weckx , Álvaro Andreu-Bernabeu , Carmen Moreno , Mara Parellada","doi":"10.1016/j.rpsm.2021.12.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Advanced parental age (APA) has been associated with an increased risk for autism in the offspring. One explanatory model includes delayed fatherhood in parents with autistic traits.</p></div><div><h3>Material and methods</h3><p>We investigated (1) whether autistic traits in parents, evaluated with the Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ), correlate with APA in 128 families, (2) in 83 trios with genetic data available, whether AQ correlated with polygenic vulnerability calculated by Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS). We stratified the analyses by as per DSM-IV autism subtypes and by parental sex.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>We found a statistically significant relation between AQ and APA (<em>r</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->0.207, <em>p</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->8.39<!--> <!-->×<!--> <!-->10<sup>−4</sup>, <em>n</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->256), significantly only in mothers (<em>r</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->0.233, <em>p</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->8.23<!--> <!-->×<!--> <!-->10<sup>−3</sup>, <em>n</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->128) and in Asperger Syndrome (AS) (<em>r</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->0.319, <em>p</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->0.034, <em>n</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->44). There was a significant association between PRS and AQ in the mothers of the participants with AS (β (95%CI)<!--> <!-->=<!--> <!-->3.28 (0.03–6.59); <em>p</em> <!-->=<!--> <!-->0.047).</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>These results show that, in this sample, older mothers present more autistic traits, and APA seems to relate to an AS profile. Furthermore, PRS is significantly associated with maternal AQ of AS subjects. Consequently, a higher polygenic maternal contribution (both by AQ and PRS) seems to contribute to an AS profile.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":101179,"journal":{"name":"Spanish Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health","volume":"17 1","pages":"Pages 28-34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1888989121001312/pdfft?md5=dfad4be45cd835ee58c1c951e5603112&pid=1-s2.0-S1888989121001312-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Spanish Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1888989121001312","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction
Advanced parental age (APA) has been associated with an increased risk for autism in the offspring. One explanatory model includes delayed fatherhood in parents with autistic traits.
Material and methods
We investigated (1) whether autistic traits in parents, evaluated with the Autism-spectrum Quotient (AQ), correlate with APA in 128 families, (2) in 83 trios with genetic data available, whether AQ correlated with polygenic vulnerability calculated by Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS). We stratified the analyses by as per DSM-IV autism subtypes and by parental sex.
Results
We found a statistically significant relation between AQ and APA (r = 0.207, p = 8.39 × 10−4, n = 256), significantly only in mothers (r = 0.233, p = 8.23 × 10−3, n = 128) and in Asperger Syndrome (AS) (r = 0.319, p = 0.034, n = 44). There was a significant association between PRS and AQ in the mothers of the participants with AS (β (95%CI) = 3.28 (0.03–6.59); p = 0.047).
Conclusions
These results show that, in this sample, older mothers present more autistic traits, and APA seems to relate to an AS profile. Furthermore, PRS is significantly associated with maternal AQ of AS subjects. Consequently, a higher polygenic maternal contribution (both by AQ and PRS) seems to contribute to an AS profile.