Cleft lip and palate: Associated genetic and environmental factors

Cleft lip and palate are among the most common craniofacial anomalies of the human species causing considerable morbidity to affected individuals. The etiology of isolated or non-syndromic cleft lip and palate is complex and heterogeneous, and its occurrence is associated with the interaction of different genetic and environmental factors. To explore the genetic and environmental factors involved in the etiology of non-syndromic cleft lip and palate, an extensive literature review was conducted on PubMed and SciELO databases. A number of environmental factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet quality, supplementation with folic acid, exposure to chemicals and contaminants, parental age and medication use may be associated with mutations in several genes increasing the risk of development of cleft lip and cleft palate. Advances in the study of gene-environment interactions and the expansion of knowledge about its etiology should lead to improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of non-syndromic cleft lip and palate.