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Cleft Lip And Depression In Adults: A Multi-Ancestry Mendelian Randomization Study, Anne Lyon Havlik

Public Health Theses

Background: Clefting of the lip with or without cleft palate (CLP) is the most common congenital craniofacial abnormality globally, affecting one in 700 live births. Traditional observational studies suggest an increased risk of adult depression among subjects with CLP, but these studies are subject to residual confounding.Objective: We aimed to address residual confounding by evaluating the association between the genetically-predicted risk of CLP on the risk of adult depression in a Mendelian randomization framework. Methods: We used single-nucleotide polymorphisms strongly associated with CLP as genetic instruments. Genetic associations with adult depression were extracted from separate studies. Three ancestry groups were …