Angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D gene polymorphisms and effects of left ventricular hypertrophy in Turkish myocardial infarction patients.

OBJECTIVE

Since the initial report of the association of the deletion/insertion (D/I) polymorphism in the gene for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) with myocardial infarction (MI), there has been considerable controversy. Some have found the D allele to be associated with MI, coronary heart disease (CHD) or other cardiac pathologies, while others have not. In view of the clinical importance of the ACE as a major marker of cardiovascular diseases, we investigated the I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene in Turkish patients with acute myocardial infarction in comparison with control subjects.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Polymerase chain reaction, and agarose gel electrophoresis techniques were used to determine the ACE genotype in 214 subjects. The frequencies of ACE D and ACE I allele among the patients with acute myocardial infarction were 65.54% and 36.45% and in the control subjects 57.62% and 42.37%, respectively. ACE DD genotypes were found higher in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) than without LVH (55.6% vs. 37.7%; X2: 2.534, p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The ACE D allele is more frequent in patients with acute myocardial infarction than in controls. Moreover ACE DD genotype might be associated with an increased risk of left ventricular hypertrophy.