Borage or Echium Amoenum Fisch Increases Occurrence of Cleft Lip with and Without Cleft Palate
Faezeh Ghaderi1,2*, Hamid Reza Fattahi3,4, Mahsa Omidi5
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2Oral and Dental Disease Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
3Department of Orthodontics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
4Orthodontic research center, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Fars, Iran
5Department of Oral radiology, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran
*Corresponding Author: Faezeh Ghaderi, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Shiraz Dental School, Ghasrodasht Street, Shiraz, 7144833586, Iran.
https://doi.org/10.58624/SVOADE.2026.07.035
Received: July 31, 2026
Published: September 03, 2026
Citation: Ghaderi F, Fattahi HR, Omid M. Borage or Echium Amoenum Fisch Increases Occurrence of Cleft Lip with and Without Cleft Palate. SVOA Dentistry 2026, 7:5, 278-285. doi: 10.58624/SVOADE.2026.07.035
Abstract
Background: Data on side-effects of herbal medications is widely missing. In here, we studied risk factors associated with orofacial clefts, with focus on traditional medication use during pregnancy.
Methods: Overall, 117 patients who referred to our cleft center, were considered for study. Children with no clefts within the same families were randomly selected as a control group. Data on family history and history of smoking during pregnancy were obtained from the mothers. Other data including, sex of the child, maternal and paternal age at birth, birth weight, birth order and drug usage during pregnancy were obtained from medical records of each child.
Results: Overall, 65% of clefts were Cleft lip (CL) + Cleft palate (CP), 10% were isolated CL and 25% were isolated CP. Patients in the two groups did not differ in paternal and maternal ages, birth weight, and birth order (p>0.05). The cleft group had higher drug use during pregnancy (30.5% vs. 15.6%; p=0.019) and lower rates of folic acid use during pregnancy (5.7% vs. 15.6%; p=0.022). Logistic regression model, showed that folic acid use was protective against cleft development (OR: 0.043, 95% CI=0.121-0.965; p=0.043) and herbal medication use was significantly associated with cleft development (OR: 7.94, 95% CI=1.713-36.90; p=0.008).
Conclusion: It seems that the use of some herbal medicines, especially borage in the pregnancy period, can be a possible risk factor for occurrence of Cleft lip or palate.
Keywords: Cleft lip; Cleft palate; Herbal; Borage; Teratogens
