Susceptibility locus for non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate on chromosome 10q25 confers risk in Estonian patients

Abstract

Non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is one of the most common birth defects and has a multifactorial etiology that includes both genetic and environmental factors. Recently, two novel susceptibility loci and three suggestive loci for NSCL/P were identified by a genome-wide association scan (GWAS) in a German population with subsequent independent replication in a mixed European population. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether these newly detected loci confer similar effects in the North-East European Baltic population. A total of 101 NSCL/P patients and 254 controls from Estonia were included. A significant association was observed for rs7078160 (P = 0.0016) at chromosome 10q25, which confirms the association of this locus with NSCL/P in the Baltic population. No significant association was found for the other four loci, a result that may have been attributable to the limited power of the sample.