The possibility that parental life experiences and environmental exposures influence mental and physical health across generations is an important concept in biology and medicine. Evidence from animal models has established the existence of a non-genetic mode of inheritance. This form of heredity involves transmission of the effects of parental exposure to the offspring through epigenetic changes in the germline. Studying the mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance in humans is challenging because it is difficult to obtain multigeneration cohorts, to collect reproductive cells in exposed parents, and to exclude psychosocial and cultural confounders. Nonetheless, epidemiological studies in humans exposed to famine, stress/trauma, or toxicants have provided evidence that parental exposure can impact the health of descendants, in some cases, across several generations. A few studies have also started to reveal epigenetic changes in the periphery and sperm after certain exposures. This article reviews these studies and evaluates the current evidence for the potential contribution of epigenetic factors to heredity in humans. The challenges and limitations of this fundamental biological process, its implications, and its societal relevance are also discussed.

父母的生活经历和环境暴露影响几代人的身心健康的可能性是生物学和医学中的一个重要概念。来自动物模型的证据已经确定了非遗传遗传模式的存在。这种遗传形式涉及通过种系中的表观遗传变化将父母接触的影响传递给后代。研究人类表观遗传的机制具有挑战性，因为难以获得多代群组、收集暴露父母的生殖细胞以及排除心理社会和文化混杂因素。尽管如此，对暴露于饥荒、压力/创伤或毒物的人类进行的流行病学研究提供了证据，表明父母暴露在某些情况下会影响后代的健康，跨越几代人。一些研究也开始揭示某些暴露后外周和精子的表观遗传变化。本文回顾了这些研究并评估了表观遗传因素对人类遗传的潜在贡献的当前证据。还讨论了这一基本生物学过程的挑战和局限性、其影响及其社会相关性。