Serum angiotensin converting enzyme (S-ACE) activity in patients with chronic renal failure on regular hemodialysis.

Serum angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) on regular hemodialysis (HD) was measured. The enzyme activity of these patients was significantly higher than that of an age-matched control group. Additionally, we found that an elevated activity was observed in patients who had a longer history of HD. The enzyme activity in patients with CRF caused by diabetic nephropathy was higher than that in patients with CRF caused by chronic glomerulonephritis, though this difference was not significant. We conclude that diffuse vascular damage might be the cause of the increased ACE activity seen in CRF.