To determine if Chinese individuals with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) display more bilateral asymmetry than do their unaffected relatives.
Design/Subjects
A case-control study of 313 individuals with CL/P from Shanghai, China, with 201 unaffected relatives as controls.
Methods
Size-adjusted asymmetry scores were defined by data on middle-finger length, palm length, palpebral fissure width, and ear length. Case-control comparisons used a multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance, paired t tests, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Results
The ear-length measure showed a significant increase in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in individuals with CL/P compared with their unaffected relatives, which was most pronounced in the female cleft lip and palate subgroup (p = .04). No other measures showed any increase in FA.
Conclusion
Evidence was found for increased FA, as measured by overall ear length, in Chinese individuals with nonsyndromic CL/P, compared with their unaffected family members. The use of bilateral measurements other than dermatoglyphics may prove to be a valuable means of assessing overall developmental stability in individuals with developmental malformations and in their families.
AdamsM.S., NiswanderJ.D.. Developmental ‘noise’ and a congenital malformation.Genet Res Camb.1967; 10: 313–317.
2.
AuffrayJ-C, DebatV., AlibertP.. Shape Asymmetry and Developmental Stability. In: ChaplainM.A.J., SinghG.D., McLachlanJ.C., eds. On Growth and Form: Spatio-temporal Pattern Formation in Biology.Chicester, U.K.: John Wiley & Sons;1999: 309–324.
3.
BalgirR.S.. Dermatoglyphics in cleft lip and cleft palate anomalies.Indian Pediatr.1993; 30: 341–346.
4.
CooperM.E., StoneR.A., LiuY-E, HuD-N, MelnickM., MarazitaM.L.. Descriptive epidemiology of nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in Shanghai China from 1980–1989.Cleft Palate Craniofac J.2000; 37: 274–280.
5.
CrawfordF.C., SofaerJ.A.. Cleft lip with or without cleft palate identification of sporadic cases with a high level of genetic predisposition.J Med Genet.1987; 24: 163–169.
6.
CroenL.A., ShawG.M., WassermanC.R., TolarováM.M.. Racial and ethnic variations in the prevalence of oralfacial clefts in California, 1983–1992.Am J Med Genet.1998; 79: 42–47.
DeshmukhR.N., GrewalM.S., SidhuS.S.. Dermatoglyphics in cleft lip and cleft palate anomaly: familial and teratogenic groups.Indian J Med Res.1979; 70: 814–818.
9.
FirmanR.C., SimmonsL.W., CumminsJ.M., MatsonP.L.. Are body fluctuating asymmetry and the ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length reliable predictors of semen quality?Hum Reprod.2003; 18: 808–812.
10.
FurlowF.B., Armijo-PrewittT., GangestadS.W., ThornhillR.. Fluctuating asymmetry and psychometric intelligence.Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci.1997; 264: 823–829.
11.
GrayP.B., MarloweF.. Fluctuating asymmetry of a foraging population: the Hadza of Tanzania.Ann Hum Biol.2002; 29: 495–501.
12.
KieserJ.A., GroeneveldH.T., Da SilvaP.C.F.. Dental asymmetry, maternal obesity, and smoking.Am J Phys Anthropol.1997; 102: 133–139.
13.
KobylianskyE., BejeranoM., YakovenkoK., Bat-Miriam KatznelsonM.. Relationship between genetic anomalies of different levels and deviations in dermatoglyphic traits. Part 6: dermatoglyphics peculiarities of males and females with cleft lip (with or without cleft palate) and cleft palate-family study.Coll Antropol.1999; 23: 1–51.
14.
LivshitsG., DavidiL., KobylianskyE., Ben-AmitaiD., LeviY., MerlobP.. Decreased developmental stability as assessed by fluctuating asymmetry of morphometric traits in preterm infants.Am J Med Genet.1988; 29: 793–805.
15.
LivshitsG., KobylianskyE.. Fluctuating asymmetry as a possible measure of developmental homeostasis in humans: a review.Hum Biol.1991; 63: 441–466.
16.
MalinaR.M., BuschangP.H.. Anthropometric asymmetry in normal and mentally retarded males.Ann Hum Biol.1984; 11: 515–531.
17.
ManningJ.T., PickupL.J.. Symmetry and performance in middle distance runners.Int J Sports Med.1998; 19: 205–209.
18.
MarazitaM.L., FieldL.L., CooperM.E., TobiasR., MaherB.S., PeanchitlertkajornS., LiuY-e. Genome-scan for loci involved in cleft lip with or without cleft palate in Chinese multiplex families.Am J Hum Genet.2002; 71: 349–364.
19.
MarazitaM.L., HuD., SpenceM.A., LiuY., MelnickM.. Cleft lip with or without cleft palate in Shanghai, China: evidence for an autosomal major locus.Am J Hum Genet.1992; 51: 648–653.
20.
MellorC.S.. Dermatoglyphic evidence of fluctuating asymmetry in schizophrenia.Br J Psychiatry.1992; 160: 467–472.
21.
MøllerA.P., ManningJ.. Growth and developmental instability.Vet J.2003; 166: 19–27.
22.
NauglerC.T., LudmanM.D.. Fluctuating asymmetry and disorders of developmental origin.Am J Med Genet.1996; 66: 15–20.
23.
NeiswangerK., CooperM.E., WeinbergS.M., FlodmanP., Bundens KeglovitsA., LiuY., HuD-N, MelnickM., SpenceM.A., MarazitaM.L.. Cleft lip with or without cleft palate and dermatoglyphic asymmetry: evaluation of a Chinese population.Orthod Craniofac Res.2002; 5: 140–146.
24.
OpitzJ.M., UtkusA.. Comments on biological asymmetry.Am J Med Genet.2001; 101: 359–369.
TriversR., ManningJ.T., ThornhillR., SinghD., McGuireM.. Jamaican Symmetry Project: long-term study of fluctuating asymmetry in rural Jamaican children.Hum Biol.1999; 71: 417–430.
33.
VormittagW., WeningerM., HollmannK., HoffmannD.. Heterogeneity of cleft lip and/or palate and dermatoglyphics.Birth Defects: Original Article Series.1979; 15: 649–659.
34.
WardR.E., JamisonP.L.. Measurement precision and reliability in craniofacial anthropometry: implications and suggestions for clinical applications.J Craniofac Genet Dev Biol.1991; 11: 156–164.
35.
WaynforthD.. Fluctuating asymmetry and human male life-history traits in rural Belize.Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci.1998; 265: 1497–1501.
36.
WentzlaffK.A., CooperM.E., YangP., AstonC.P., LiuY.E., MelnickM., MarazitaM.L.. Association between non-right-handedness and cleft lip with or without cleft palate in a Chinese population.J Craniofac Genet Dev Biol.1997; 17: 141–147.
37.
WhitlockM.. The heritability of fluctuating asymmetry and the genetic control of developmental stability.Proc Biol Sci.1996; 263: 849–853.
WoolfC.M., GianasA.D.. A study of fluctuating dermatoglyphic asymmetry in the sibs and parents of cleft lip propositi.Am J Hum Genet.1977; 29: 503–507.
