Congenital orofacial clefts: Etiology and Frequency

Orofacial clefts are congenital structural anomalies of the lip and/or palate. These anomalies affect ~1/1000 in the community. The etiology of orofacial clefts is complex, including various genetic and environmental agents. Syndrome is not accompanied by any isolated orofacial clefts are more common, although environmental factors often play a role in the etiology. Mendelian or teratogenic origins; the non-syndromic forms of orofacial clefts are more common and are likely due to secondary gene–environment interactions. Latest researches in both molecular and quantitative approaches have begun to identify the genes responsible for the rare syndromic forms of cleft and have also identified both candidate genes and loci for the more common and complex non-syndromic variants. Animal models, have also contributed greatly to an comprehension of these anomalies. We aimed to describes genes that are involved in orofacial clefts in humans and animal models and explores genetic approaches to identifying additional genes and gene–environment interactions that constitute the many factors of orofacial clefts in this review