POLYMORPHISM OF THE ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME GENE IN MUSCOVITES WITH ARTERIAL-HYPERTENSION AND CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASES

Insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene was studied in healthy individuals (N = 168) and in patients with myocardial infarction (N = 31), hypertrophic cardiomyopa thy (N = 14), or arterial hypertension (N = 26) from Moscow and Moscow Region. Significant deviations: decreased homozygosity in the deletio n-carrying allele(D/D, 19.2%) and increased heterozygosity (I/D, 65.4% ), were only found in patients with arterial hypertension as compared with controls of the same sex and age (45.2% and.38.1%, respectively). A similar tendency was detected in postinfarction patients and those with cardiomyopathy. The paradoxical decrease in the frequency of D/D (an independent genetic marker of predisposition to cardiovascular dis eases) can be explained by the age composition of the tested sample, b ecause this genotype is associated with higher risk of premature death in older patients with hypertension and cardiopathies. The associatio n of the ACE gene with angiopathies and the involvement of both geneti c and nongenetic factors in the development of the above diseases were assumed.