Validation of a genome-wide association study implied that SHTIN1 may involve in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P in Chinese population.

Orofacial clefts are among the most common birth defects in humans worldwide. A large-scale, genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the Chinese population recently identified several genetic risk variants for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P). We selected 16 significant SNPs from the GWAS I stage (P < 1.00E-5) that had not been replicated to validate their association with NSCL/P in 1931 NSCL/P cases and 2258 controls. Ultimately, we identified a NSCL/P susceptibility loci (rs17095681 at 10q25.3, intron of SHTN1 and 27.2 kb downstream of VAX1, Pmeta = 3.80E-9, OR = 0.64) in Chinese Han and Hui populations. This locus was not high LD with the reported loci in 10q25.3. It was a newly identified independent locus in 10q25.3 associated with NSCL/P. These results imply that SHTIN1 may involve in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P advance our understanding of the genetic susceptibility to NSCL/P.