Individuals with nonsyndromic orofacial clefts have increased asymmetry of fingerprint patterns

• Published in: PloS one 2020-03, Vol.15 (3), p.e0230534-e0230534
• Main Authors: Neiswanger, Katherine, Mukhopadhyay, Nandita, Rajagopalan, Shwetha, Leslie, Elizabeth J, Sanchez, Carla A, Hecht, Jacqueline T, Orioli, Iêda M, Poletta, Fernando A, de Salamanca, Javier Enríquez, Weinberg, Seth M, Marazita, Mary L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Arches; Asymmetry; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Birth defects; Brain - abnormalities; Cleft Lip - diagnosis; Cleft Lip - genetics; Cleft lip/palate; Cleft Palate - diagnosis; Cleft Palate - genetics; Cohort Studies; Comparative analysis; Congenital defects; Dentistry; Dermatoglyphics; Family; Female; Females; Fingerprints; Humans; Male; Males; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Orofacial clefts; People and Places; Phenotype; Physical Sciences; Public health; Research and Analysis Methods; Sex Factors; Social Sciences; Variance analysis
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230534

Dermatoglyphic patterns on the fingers often differ in syndromes and other conditions with a developmental component, compared to the general population. Previous literature on the relationship between orofacial clefts-the most common craniofacial birth defect in humans-and dermatoglyphics is inconsistent, with some studies reporting altered pattern frequencies and/or increased asymmetry and others failing to find differences. To investigate dermatoglyphics in orofacial clefting, we obtained dermatoglyphic patterns in a large multiethnic cohort of orofacial cleft cases (N = 367), their unaffected family members (N = 836), and controls (N = 299). We categorized fingerprint pattern types from males and females who participated at five sites of the Pittsburgh Orofacial Cleft study (Hungary, United States of America (Pennsylvania, Texas), Spain, and Argentina). We also calculated a pattern dissimilarity score for each individual as a measure of left-right asymmetry. We tested for group differences in the number of arches, ulnar and radial loops, and whorls on each individual's hands, and in the pattern dissimilarity scores using ANOVA. After taking sex and site differences into account, we did not find any significant pattern count differences between cleft and non-cleft individuals. Notably, we did observe increased pattern dissimilarity in individuals with clefts, compared to both their unaffected relatives and controls. Increased dermatoglyphic pattern dissimilarity in individuals with nonsyndromic orofacial clefts may reflect a generalized developmental instability.