Polymorphic Variants of V-Maf Musculoaponeurotic Fibrosarcoma Oncogene Homolog B (rs13041247 and rs11696257) and Risk of Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip/Palate: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Non-syndromic cleft lip/palate (NSCL/P) has an etiology, including both genetic and environmental factors. Herein, we evaluated the association of rs13041247 and rs11696257 v-maf musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma oncogene homolog B (MAFB) polymorphisms with the risk of NSCL/P in a meta-analysis. Methods: The PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and HuGE Navigator databases were systematically searched to retrieve relevant articles published up to January 2019. The Newcastle–Ottawa scale was applied for quality evaluation of retrieved articles. The 95% confidence interval (CI) and crude odds ratio (OR) were calculated for each study using the Review Manager 5.3 software to show the association between MAFB polymorphisms and risk of NSCL/P. The comprehensive meta-analysis 2.0 software was used to calculate the publication bias. In addition, sensitivity analysis was carried out to show the stability of results. Results: Of 102 articles retrieved from the databases, 10 articles were analyzed in this meta-analysis. Ten articles, including eleven studies reporting rs13041247 MAFB polymorphism, included 3082 NSCL/P patients and 4104 controls. Three studies that reported rs11696257 MAFB polymorphism involved 845 NSCL/P patients and 927 controls. The rs11696257 MAFB polymorphism was not associated with the risk of NSCL/P, but the CC and TC genotypes of rs13041247 polymorphism were associated with the risk of NSCL/P. Nevertheless, the C allele and CC and TC genotypes were associated with a significant decline in the risk of NSCL/P in population-based studies. Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis demonstrated that the risk of NSCL/P was related to rs13041247 polymorphism, not rs11696257 MAFB polymorphism. Well-designed studies are required to assess the interaction of MAFB and other genes with environmental factors in different ethnic groups.