Maternal and Parent-of-Origin Gene–Environment Effects on the Etiology of Orofacial Clefting

TL;DR

This study explores how genes and environmental factors like smoking and folic acid affect the risk of orofacial clefts in children.

Contribution

The study identifies candidate gene-environment interactions for orofacial clefts, focusing on maternal and parent-of-origin effects.

Findings

Nominally significant interactions were found near genes LRRC7, NCKAP5, IFT43, and GPATCH2L.

Genetic effects in these regions were heightened under periconceptional exposure to tobacco or lack of folic acid.

Further research is needed to confirm the role of these genes in cleft development.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: We investigated maternal and parent-of-origin (PoO) gene-environment interaction effects on the risk of nonsyndromic orofacial clefts for two maternal environmental factors: periconceptional smoking and folic acid supplementation. Methods: Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotypes and TopMed-imputed genotypes were obtained for case-parent triads from the EUROCRAN and ITALCLEFT studies. Candidate regions were selected around target SNPs from a previous genome-wide association study, resulting in 12 (726 SNPs) and 11 regions (730 SNPs) for maternal and PoO effects, respectively. Log-linear models were used to analyze 404 case-parent triads and 40 case-parent dyads. p-values were combined across regions. Results: None of the interactions reached statistical significance after correction for the number of regions tested. Nominally significant (pooled p-values < 0.05) interactions pointed to regions in or close to genes LRRC7 (maternal gene-folate interaction), NCKAP5 (PoO-smoking interaction), and IFT43 and GPATCH2L (PoO-folate interaction). Conclusions: Our results suggested that the genetic effects in or around these genes were heightened under periconceptional exposure to tobacco or no folic acid supplementation. The involvement of these genes in orofacial cleft development, in conjunction with environmental exposures, should be further studied.

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