I D POLYMORPHISM OF THE ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME GENE DOES NOT PREDICT ISOLATED SYSTOLIC OR SYSTOLIC DIASTOLIC HYPERTENSION IN THE ELDERLY/

To determine whether insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism (intron 16) of the angiotensin converting-enzyme (ACE) gene is associated with is olated systolic hypertension (ISH: systolic blood pressure (BP) greate r than or equal to 160, diastolic BP <90 mm Hg) or systolic-diastolic hypertension (S-D hypertension: diastolic BP greater than or equal to 90 +/- systolic BP greater than or equal to 160 mm Hg) compared with n ormotensive controls (systolic BP <160, diastolic BP <90 mm Hg), we co nducted a case-control study of 733 non-institutionalised, elderly (gr eater than or equal to 60 years) residents of Dubbo, NSW. Individuals were classified as: ISH (n = 167), S-D hypertension (n = 207) and norm otensive control (n = 359) with age and sex matching. II, DD and ID ge notypes were determined by a nested PCR strategy using DNA extracted f rom serum. The frequencies of D and I alleles in the control populatio n (0.70 and 0.30 respectively) were not significantly different in the ISH group or the S-D hypertension group (chi(2): 1.7, P = 0.42), Afte r adjustment for several potential confounders, neither genotype nor a llele predicted ISH (II vs ED: odds ratio (OR): 1.06, 95% confidence i nterval (CI): 0.55-2.03; I vs D: 1.09, 0.82-1.46) or S-D hypertension (II vs DD: 1.19, 0.67-2.10; 1 vs D: 1.16, 0.89-1.52) in this elderly c ohort. The I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene is not a marker for either form of hypertension in this large elderly sample.