Implications of Advancing Paternal Age: Does It Affect Offspring School Performance?

Average paternal age is increasing in many high income countries, but the implications of this demographic shift for child health and welfare are poorly understood. There is equivocal evidence that children of older fathers are at increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and reduced IQ. We therefore report here on the relationship between paternal age and a composite indicator of scholastic achievement during adolescence, i.e. compulsory school leaving grades, among recent birth cohorts in Stockholm County where delayed paternity is notably common. We performed a record-linkage study comprising all individuals in Stockholm County who finished 9 years of compulsory school from 2000 through 2007 (n = 155,875). Data on school leaving grades and parental characteristics were retrieved from administrative and health service registers and analyzed using multiple linear regression. Advancing paternal age at birth was not associated with a decrease in school leaving grades in adolescent offspring. After adjustment for year of graduation, maternal age and parental education, country of birth and parental mental health service use, offspring of fathers aged 50 years or older had on average 0.3 (95% CI −3.8, 4.4) points higher grades than those of fathers aged 30–34 years. In conclusion, advancing paternal age is not associated with poorer school performance in adolescence. Adverse effects of delayed paternity on offspring cognitive function, if any, may be counterbalanced by other potential advantages for children born to older fathers

Effect of Hydroxyapatite porous characteristics on healing outcomes in rabbit posterolateral spinal fusion model

Hydroxyapatite (HA) has been commonly used as a bone graft substitute in various kinds of clinical fields. To improve the healing capability of HA, many studies have been performed to reveal its optimal structural characteristics for better healing outcomes. In spinal reconstruction surgery, non-interconnected porous HAs have already been applied as a bone graft extender in order to avoid autogenous bone harvesting. However, there have been few experimental studies regarding the effects of the structural characteristics of HA in posterolateral lumbar intertransverse process spine fusion (PLF). The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of HA porous characteristics on healing outcomes in a rabbit PLF model in order to elucidate appropriate structural characteristics of HA as a bone graft extender. Thirty-six adult female Japanese White rabbits underwent bilateral intertransverse process fusion at the level of L5–6 without internal fixation. We prepared three types of HA with different porosities: HA with 15% porosity (HA15%), HA with 50% porosity (HA50%), and HA with 85% porosity (HA85%), all of which were clinically available materials. The HA15% and HA50% had few interconnecting pores, whereas the HA85%, which was a recently developed material, had abundant interconnecting pores. All rabbits were randomly divided into the following four groups according to the grafted materials: (1) HA15% + autogenous bone, (2) HA50% + autogenous bone, (3) HA85% + autogenous bone, (4) pure autogenous bone graft. The animals were euthanized at 5 weeks after surgery, and post-mortem analyses including biomechanical testing, radiographical and histological evaluations were performed. There was no statistically significant difference in either fusion rate and/or bending stiffness among the three HA groups. However, in histological and radiological analyses, both bone ingrowth rate and direct bone bonding rate in the HA85% group were significantly higher than those in the HA15% and HA50% groups, despite the similar value of bone volume rate in fusion mass among the three HA groups. In the HA85% group, bone ingrowth was achieved throughout the implanted HAs via interconnecting pores and there was excellent unification between the HA granules and the newly mineralized bone. On the other hand, in the non-interconnected porous HA groups, only a little bone ingrowth could be seen at the peripheral pores of the implanted HA, and its surface was mostly covered with fibrous tissue or empty space. The current study demonstrated that the HA porous characteristics had an effect on the histological outcomes in a rabbit PLF model. We would like to conclude that the interconnected high porous structure seems to be promising for the environment of PLF in the point of producing fusion mass with higher cellular viability. This is because the HA85% is superior in terms of integration with the newly formed bone in fusion mass compared to the non-interconnected porous HAs. However, the porous modifications of HA have little influence on fusion rate and mechanical strength because primary stabilization of the fusion segment is mainly achieved by bridging bone between the adjacent transverse processes outside the implanted materials, rather than the degree of integration between the newly formed bone and the HA granules in PLF