Association between angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism and coronary artery disease

An insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in the gene for angiotensin-conver ting enzyme (ACE) is associated with myocardial infarction and other cardia c pathology. There is evidence for a role of the renin-angiotensin system i n cell growth and in the repair of damaged arterial walls, so the ACE gene is postulated to be a candidate gene affecting the important clinical probl em of coronary artery disease (CAD), In view of the clinical importance of the ACE as a major marker of cardiovascular diseases, we investigated the I /D polymorphism of the ACE gene in Turkish CAD patients in comparison with control subjects to evaluate a possible association between CAD and the gen e encoding ACE. Polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragment length poly morphism, and agarose gel electrophoresis techniques were used to determine the ACE genotype in 58 subjects. The frequencies of ACE D and ACE I allele among the patients with CAD were 62.26% and 37.73 % and in the control sub jects were 49.3 % and 50.76 %, respectively. The greater frequency of delet ion allele (D) was in the CAD group than in the control subjects was signif icant (P < 0.01).