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Seasonal variation in birth date of children with cleft lip
1Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, USA.
Insights
Children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) show seasonal birth variations, with more births in summer. This pattern is more pronounced in males, suggesting environmental factors like maternal nutrition influence CLP risk.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric medicine
- Birth defects research
- Environmental epidemiology
Background:
- Maternal dietary deficiency is linked to neural tube defects and seasonal birth variations.
- Cleft lip with or without palate (CLP) shares potential links with maternal nutrition and environmental factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate seasonal birth variations in children with non-syndromic cleft lip with or without palate (CLP).
- To determine if sex differences exist in the seasonal birth patterns of CLP, consistent with multifactorial-threshold models.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of birth months for 598 children with CLP (1950-1996).
- Exclusion of children with syndromes or associated malformations.
- Sex-specific analysis of birth month data.
Main Results:
- A significant tendency for CLP births occurred more frequently in summer than winter.
- This seasonal fluctuation was more pronounced in males than females.
- The peak incidence for CLP births was observed in November-December.
Conclusions:
- Seasonal variations in CLP births suggest an environmental influence, potentially related to maternal nutrition.
- Sex-specific analysis amplifies the detection of gene-environment interactions for multifactorial traits.
- This methodology can be applied to studying other complex genetic and environmental interactions.
Abstract:
Liability to neural tube defects is increased by maternal dietary deficiency, and children with neural tube defects show a possibly related seasonal variation in date of birth. Since maternal dietary insufficiency may also increase liability to cleft lip, with or without cleft palate (CLP), we wondered if children with CLP would also show a seasonal variation in birth date. The multifactorial-threshold model predicts that any such effect would be more apparent in males than females, since CLP is more frequent in males. Month of birth was obtained from records of 598 children with CLP seen at The Montreal Children's Hospital between 1950 and 1996. Children with syndromes or associated malformations were excluded. There was a significant tendency for children with CLP to be born more often in the summer than in winter. The difference was greater in males than in females. The seasonal fluctuation in month of birth of children with CLP is consistent with the presence of an environmental factor increasing liability, with a maximal effect in November-December. This might be related, at least in part, to a seasonal fluctuation in maternal nutrition. The data support the prediction that analyzing the data for the sexes separately would amplify the effects of variation in liability for a multifactorial threshold trait that has a different frequency in males and females. This approach could be useful in the study of other gene-environment interactions.