title: Parental age effects on odor sensitivity in healthy subjects and schizophrenia patients.
abstract: A schizophrenia phenotype for paternal and maternal age effects on illness risk could benefit etiological research. As odor sensitivity is associated with variability in symptoms and cognition in schizophrenia, we examined if it was related to parental ages in patients and healthy controls. We tested Leukocyte Telomere Length (LTL) as an explanatory factor, as LTL is associated with paternal age and schizophrenia risk. Seventy-five DSM-IV patients and 46 controls were assessed for detection of PEA, WAIS-III for cognition, and LTL, assessed by qPCR. In healthy controls, but not schizophrenia patients, decreasing sensitivity was monotonically related to advancing parental ages, particularly in sons. The relationships between parental aging and odor sensitivity differed significantly for patients and controls (Fisher's R to Z: χ(2)  = 6.95, P = 0.009). The groups also differed in the association of odor sensitivity with cognition; lesser sensitivity robustly predicted cognitive impairments in patients (<0.001), but these were unassociated in controls. LTL was unrelated to odor sensitivity and did not explain the association of lesser sensitivity with cognitive deficits.Parental aging predicted less sensitive detection in healthy subjects but not in schizophrenia patients. In patients, decreased odor sensitivity strongly predicted cognitive deficits, whereas more sensitive acuity was associated with older parents. These data support separate risk pathways for schizophrenia. A parental age-related pathway may produce psychosis without impairing cognition and odor sensitivity. Diminished odor sensitivity may furthermore be useful as a biomarker for research and treatment studies in schizophrenia. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Malaspina
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walsh-Messinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.|Erie County Forensic Mental Health Services, State University of New York, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Antonius
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical School, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dracxler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rothman
authors.affiliation: Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, City University of New York, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Puthota
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, New York University and Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gilman
authors.affiliation: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Feuerstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical School, New York, New York.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keefe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goetz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Social and Psychiatric Initiatives (InSPIRES), New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.|Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute & Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Raymond R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Goetz
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
authors.forename: Douglas S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lehrer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pato
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D009812:Odorants; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D010290:Parents; D010331:Paternal Age; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics
keywords: cognition; maternal age; olfaction; paternal age; schizophrenia; telomere length