AGE-DEPENDENT AND GENDER-DEPENDENT ASSOCIATION OF THE ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME GENE WITH ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION IN A CHINESE POPULATION

A case-control study was carried out on 272 Chinese subjects over 40 y ears of age, including 157 hypertensives and 115 normotensives, to exa mine the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and blood pressure (BP) status, The I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene was identified by polymerase chai n reaction. As a whole group, the difference of allele frequencies bet ween normotensives and hypertensives was statistically significant (ch i(2) = 4.46, P=0.03; D/I odds = 1.46), while there was no difference i n the genotype distribution (chi(2) = 3.95, P = 0.13). In a subgroup w ith elderly hypertension (age >65), the frequencies of D-allele and DD genotype significantly increased (chi(2) = 4.43, P = 0.03 and chi(2) = 4.03, P = 0.08, respectively; D/I odds = 2.28), The association and relative risk increased further in the male gender (chi(2) = 6.65, P = 0.01 and chi(2) = 7.51, P = 0.02 respectively; D/I odds = 4.57 and DD /II odds = 12.00 respectively). The D-allele increased with age in the hypertensives, while the I-allele increased with age in normotensives . Thus, we conclude that the deletion polymorphism of the ACE gene is significantly associated with male elderly hypertension, at least in t his Chinese population, This observation, if proved in a larger popula tion, may have some implications for the prevention and treatment stra tegy for elderly hypertension.