ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME POLYMORPHISM AND DEVELOPMENT OF DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY IN NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

We determined the distribution frequency of angiotensin-converting enz yme insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in 111 Japanese patients wit h noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) of at least 10 years duration (80 patients with diabetic nephropathy and 31 patients withou t nephropathy) and 76 healthy Japanese controls. Patients with diabeti c nephropathy showed an excess of the ID genotype compared with patien ts without nephropathy (p < 0.02) and less of the II genotype compared with healthy controls (p < 0.01) and patients without nephropathy (p < 0.01). NIDDM patients with the II genotype have a decreased risk for the development of diabetic nephropathy.