MTHFR, TGFB3, and TGFA polymorphisms and their association with the risk of non-syndromic cleft lip and cleft palate in China

✍ Scribed by JiangHui Zhu; Ling Hao; Song Li; Lynn B. Bailey; YiHua Tian; Zhu Li

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 125 KB
• Volume: 152A
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1552-4825
• DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.33113

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Our previous results indicated a moderate association between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene 677C‐T variant and an increased risk of non‐syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (nsCL/P) among the northern but not southern population in China, suggesting possible genetic heterogeneity in the etiology of nsCL/P between these two populations. It remains unknown whether the transforming growth factor alpha (TGFA) gene TaqI polymorphism and transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGFB3) gene CA repeats influence the risk of nsCL/P differently between the northern and southern Chinese populations. In this study of 188 Chinese case‐parent triads, we found an independent association between the TGFB3 variant and risk of nsCL/P (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.25–3.54 for heterozygotes; OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 0.83–3.83 for homozygotes). The MTHFR variant was associated with an increased risk of nsCL/P among children in the north (OR = 3.11, 95% CI: 1.18–8.23 for heterozygotes; OR = 3.36, 95%CI: 1.14–9.93 for homozygotes) and appear to interact marginally with the TGFB3 variant in the occurrence of nsCL/P among southern subjects (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.06–1.07). No association was found between the TGFA variant and risk of nsCL/P in our data. Our results suggest that the TGFB3 gene variant may be an important genetic risk factor for nsCL/P occurrence in Chinese children, and we found no evidence of heterogeneity between northern and southern Chinese populations in the associations between TGFB3 and TGFA variants and risk of nsCL/P, but these results warrant further investigation. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.