Skip to content
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter February 26, 2008

The D allele of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism is associated with the severity of atherosclerosis

  • Pawel Niemiec , Iwona Zak and Krystian Wita

Abstract

Background: Angiotensin II is produced primarily by angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) within atherosclerotic lesions and ACE level in plaques correlates with the severity of vessel wall damage. Therefore, we investigated the possible association of ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the severity of atherosclerosis, estimated on the basis of the number of coronary stenoses and critical arterial occlusions observed during coronary angiography.

Methods: The study cohort included 172 patients with angiographically confirmed premature coronary artery disease. The ACE gene I/D polymorphism was genotyped using a PCR method.

Results: The frequencies of DD genotype, D allele carrier-state (DD+ID genotypes) and the D allele increased with the number of stenoses in coronary vessels. D allele carriers (DD+ID genotypes) were more frequent in the subgroup of patients with stenoses in at least four coronary vessels than in other patients including subjects with one-, two- and three-vessel disease (97.4% vs. 74.4%, OR=13.05, 95% CI: 1.81–100.00, χ2=9.84, p=0.0017). Furthermore, the D allele was significantly more frequent in patients with critical arterial occlusions (>90%) than in subjects without critical stenoses (61.1% vs. 49.3%, χ2=9.84, p=0.023).

Conclusions: The ACE I/D polymorphism influences individual differences in severity of coronary artery disease and the D allele promotes generation of numerous and critical atherosclerotic lesions.

Clin Chem Lab Med 2008;46:446–52.


Corresponding author: Pawel Niemiec, Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Medical University of Silesia, Medykow Str. 18, 40-752 Katowice, Poland Phone/Fax: +48-32-252-84-32,

Received: 2007-9-12
Accepted: 2007-12-11
Published Online: 2008-02-26
Published in Print: 2008-04-01

©2008 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

Downloaded on 27.9.2023 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/CCLM.2008.101/html
Scroll to top button