This 2019 Washington State University rodent study found:

“Ancestral exposure to toxicant vinclozolin induces an epigenetic transgenerational increase in susceptibility to prostate pathology in F₃ [male great-grandchildren] generation rats. These results are in agreement with previous studies which found a transgenerational increase in rates of prostatic:

• Epithelial atrophy;
• Cystic hyperplasia; and
• Prostatitis

in transgenerational F₃ and F₄ [male great-great-grandchildren] generations after exposure of F₀ [great-great-grandmother] generation pregnant rats to vinclozolin. These effects were accompanied by transgenerational changes in mRNA expression in F₃ generation ventral prostate epithelial cells.

A number of previous transgenerational studies have shown no ventral prostate histopathology or disease detected. Therefore, observations suggest ancestral exposure specificity in the ability to induce transgenerational inheritance of prostate disease.

There was also no increase in prostate histopathology in directly exposed F₁ [male children] or F₂ [male grandchildren] generation vinclozolin lineage rats compared to controls.

The mechanism by which epigenetic transgenerational inheritance affects prostate epithelium involves control of gene expression by DNA methylation and lncRNAs. It will be necessary to determine exact gene targets of these epigenetic modifications to determine further mechanisms.

Future studies need to investigate if similar mechanisms are at work in human males who have adult-onset BPH or prostate cancer. Ancestral exposures to toxicants and epigenetic transgenerational inheritance may contribute to development of prostate disease in men today.”

---

This study’s above bolded sentence added to evidence that epigenetic effects may skip generations. A study by the same group, Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of ovarian disease, found in females:

There was no increase in ovarian disease in direct fetal exposed F₁ or germline exposed F₂ generation vinclozolin or DDT lineage rats compared to controls.

A disturbance in the paradigm of child abuse referenced other studies that found generation-skipping effects.

Researchers are closer to discovering evidence for precise mechanisms of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance. It’s well past time that other researchers performing studies like Burying human transgenerational epigenetic evidence:

• Turn things around;
• Take their work seriously; and
• Truly investigate human evidence for epigenetic transgenerational inheritance.

What are more important research and funding priorities than such human studies?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-38741-1 “Environmental Toxicant Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Prostate Pathology and Stromal-Epithelial Cell Epigenome and Transcriptome Alterations: Ancestral Origins of Prostate Disease”