PATERNAL AGE AND PROGENY

Testicular ageing affects at the same time the individual and his line age. In the individual, vascular, endocrine, blood testis barrier and Sertoli cells changes because of age lead a decrease of spermatozoa nu mber and an alteration in their form and motility. These changes lead a gradual decrease of fertility. In the progeny, paternel ageing incre ases the risk of new dominant autosomic mutations which themselves cau se different malformations and that of certain chromosome X linked rec essive mutations. Moreover, in animal an man, very youthful age and pa ternal ageing seem responsible for a lowering in the level of progeny cognitive functions. Maternal age did not appear to play a part in thi s event. On the whole, these results pose the problem of the optimum a ge for fatherhood.