The father's exposure to nicotine linked to the child's bad cognition: study

The study found that changes in the father's sperm exposed to nicotine resulted in gene problems that played a role in memory and learning. (Source: Photo file)

While women have long been warned of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy, exposure to nicotine in men could lead to cognitive deficits in their children and grandchildren, researchers have discovered, including a of Indian origin, in their study on the mouse.

The findings of the study showed that although fathers exhibited normal behavioral tendencies when exposed to nicotine, their male and female offspring exhibited hyperactivity, attention deficit, and cognitive rigidity. "Doctors can not warn men that their smoking can harm the unborn child even if the mother never smokes. I think our study puts that in the foreground, "said Pradeep Bhide, a professor at Florida State University in the United States.

"Our data raises the possibility that some of the cognitive impairments found in the current generation of children and adults are attributable to environmental damage that occurred a generation or two ago," said Bhide.

For the mice study, the university group team exposed for 12 weeks to low-dose nicotine in drinking water during the sperm production and reproduction phase with naïve drug partners – patients not under the influence of all drugs – to produce the F1 generation.

In addition, male and female F1 mice were bred with naïve drug partners to produce the F2 generation. Male and female F1 mice derived from males exposed to nicotine exhibited a significant increase in spontaneous locomotor activity and significant deficits in inversion learning. Male F1 mice also showed significant deficits in attention.

In addition, the results of the F2 generation showed that male mice derived from female F1 mice exposed paternally to nicotine had significant deficits in inversion learning. In addition, the study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, revealed that changes in the father's sperm exposed to nicotine resulted in gene problems that play a role in memory and learning. These epigenetic changes are thought to be temporary, although some may last a long time.

"In analyzing the father's spermatozoa, we found several genes with epigenetic changes. This includes the dopamine D2 gene, which plays an important role in brain development and learning. This is the likely source of the cognitive deficits found in their descendants, "said Deirdre McCarthy, a researcher at the university.

However, according to Bhide, additional research is needed to understand the duration of the changes.

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