An angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism suggests a genetic distinction between ischaemic stroke and carotid stenosis

Background Ischaemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD) is a heterogeneous synd rome to which different genetic factors may contribute. We have investigate d the distribution of alleles of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) ge ne, which has been suggested to be of possible importance in ischaemic stro ke or cardiovascular disease, in groups of patients with ischaemic stroke a nd carotid artery stenosis (CS). Materials and methods One hundred and thirty patients with ischaemic stroke and 68 patients with more than 50% stenosis of the internal carotid artery were investigated and compared with age- and sex-matched healthy control s ubjects. Alleles of an insertion/deletion polymorphism of the ACE gene were determined by one-stage polymerase chain reaction and visualized on agaros e gels. Results There was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the distribution of ACE alleles, homozygosity for the presumed susceptibility deletion allele b eing more common in patients with CS than in healthy control subjects. Ther e was also a significant difference (P<0.05) in patients with CS in compari son with matched ICVD patients without CS, both in allelic frequencies and in homozygosity for the deletion allele. Conclusions Our results indicate that the ACE gene polymorphism may be a ri sk factor for the development of CS. The observed difference in ACE allele distribution may be seen as evidence for a genetic distinction between ICVD and CS, two clinically related conditions, which further supports the hypo thesis that genetic factors are of importance for this group of diseases.