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Fathers diet may affect offsprings
development, study of mice suggests
By Meeri Kim,
Wat ching what you eat and drink isnt just f or moms-t o-be anymore. New scient if ic evidence
suggest s t hat t he f at hers diet bef ore concept ion might be just as import ant t o a childs
healt h.
A st udy in mice linked nut rit ional def iciencies in pat ernal diet t o a higher rat e of birt h def ect s
compared wit h t hose whose f at hers were f ed a normal, well-rounded menu. The f indings
raise concerns about dads unknowingly passing on harmf ul t rait s t hrough molecular markers
on t he DNA of t heir sperm.
These epigenet ic markers dont change t he genet ic inf ormat ion, but rat her swit ch part s of t he genome on and of f . They are suscept ible t o
environment and diet t hroughout f et al development , but were t hought t o be wiped clean bef ore birt h. New st udies, including t he one
published online Tuesday in Nat ure Communicat ions, have revealed t hat some of t hem may survive all t he way f rom sperm t o baby.
When analyzing t he sperm epigenomes of t he low-nut rit ion mice, t he researchers f ound abnormalit ies in epigenet ic markers t hat af f ect ed
genes linked t o development , neurological and psychological disorders and cert ain cancers.
We should be looking caref ully at t he way a man is living his lif e, said st udy aut hor and reproduct ive biologist Sarah Kimmins of McGill
Universit y. Environment al exposure is remembered in t he developing sperm and t ransmit t ed t o of f spring.
Since it t akes human males about t hree mont hs t o produce f ully grown sperm f rom st em cells, Kimmins speculat es t hat men t rying t o have
children could t ry cleaning up t heir diet s even t emporarily.
If a man has been living a bad, unhealt hy lif est yle, he will not only improve his own healt h but t he healt h of his of f spring, she said.
Scient ist s at McGill f ed male mice a diet cont aining less t han 15 percent of t he recommended amount of f olat e, ot herwise known as vit amin
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B9. High doses of t he nut rient can be f ound nat urally in liver, spinach, brussels sprout s, asparagus and avocados. Kimmins chose f olat e
because it can direct ly af f ect t he bodys abilit y t o produce epigenet ic markers.
In 1998, t he Food and Drug Administ rat ion st art ed t o require makers of grain product s t o enrich breads, past as, rice and cereals wit h f olic
acid, t he synt het ic f orm of B9. Most people in t he Unit ed St at es get enough of t he vit amin, but some groups such as younger women t end
t o absorb less of it . Also, being overweight or consuming alcohol can cause t he body t o met abolize less f olat e.
Babies of women who dont get enough f olat e are more likely t o have def ect s in t he neural t ube, a st ruct ure in embryos t hat lat er becomes
t he brain and spinal cord. While it was known t hat low f olat e in males can af f ect t heir f ert ilit y, t hese f indings show a surprising associat ion
wit h birt h def ect s.
No one ever t hinks of birt h def ect s as coming f rom t he f at her if t hey arent genet ic, said Kimmins. Inst ead, t he f ocus t ends t o be ent irely
on t he mot her and what she eat s and drinks because of t he shared nut rient s during pregnancy. This is becoming a really out dat ed way of
t hinking, she said.
One of every 33 children in t he Unit ed St at es is born wit h a birt h def ect , according t o t he Cent ers f or Disease Cont rol and Prevent ion, but
most of t hose have an unknown, nongenet ic cause. Some scient ist s suggest t hat t he inherit ed layer of epigenet ic inf ormat ion could
cont ribut e t o birt h def ect s.
Kimmins and her colleagues set out t o discover whet her t hey could change t he inf ormat ion t ransmit t ed by sperm wit hout alt ering t he DNA
it self , by t weaking only f ood int ake.
Male mice in one group were f ed a f olat e-def icient diet f rom womb t o adult hood, because sperm cells st art t o f orm when pups are st ill in
ut ero. The cont rol male mice, as well as t he f emales t hat bot h groups bred wit h, were kept on normal, well-balanced diet s.
The f olat e-def icient f at hers had f ert ilit y issues, as expect ed, and t heir lit t ers had almost 30 percent more birt h def ect s t han t he cont rol
groups.
The birt h def ect s were quit e severe: club f oot , underdeveloped digit s, short ened jaws, webbing of t he digit s, Kimmins said. I didnt see any
of t hat in t he cont rols.
When analyzing t he sperm epigenome of t he mice, researchers f ound dif f erences bet ween t he t wo groups t hat af f ect ed genes linked t o
development , t he nervous syst em and cancer.
Kimmins is now working wit h f ert ilit y clinics t o gat her human dat a on pat ernal f olat e levels, obesit y, and t he sperm epigenome in order t o link
t hem wit h reproduct ive success and child healt h. She expect s t he result s t o t ranslat e f rom mice t o men, because t hey are genet ically and
epigenet ically very similar.
Ohio Universit y endocrinologist Felicia Nowak called t he st udy a very nice piece of t he t ransgenerat ional epigenet ic puzzle.
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Nowaks preliminary result s on mice f ed high-f at diet s reinf orce t he import ance of dads-t o-be wat ching what t hey eat . Male mice who
noshed on t oo many f at t y f oods f at hered heavier pups wit h higher percent ages of body f at compared wit h t heir low-f at -diet count erpart s,
even t hough all t he pups were kept on t he same healt hy diet .
Kim is a freelance science journalist based in Philadelphia.
The Washingt on Post Company
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