The role of angiotensin converting enzyme and angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene polymorphisms in patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic opticneuropathy

Objective: To determine the role of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of nonartertic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). Design: Retrospective, case-control study. Participants: Seventy-four patients with NAION diagnosed from 1984 through 1999. Seventy-one patients who visited the Eye Institute comprised the cont rol group. Testing intervention: DNA was extracted from whole blood obtained from all patients and control participants. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for analysis of ACE and AT1R polymorphisms. Results: The frequency of the polymorphism for ACE among the NAION patients (39.2% deletion allele [DD], 54.0% deletion/insertion [D/I] locus, 6.8% in sertion allele [II]) was similar to that of the control group (50.7% DD, 39 .4% D/I, 9.9% II), with P = 0.21. The frequency of the polymorphism of AT1R in the NAION patients was 5.4% CC, 44.6% CA, 50% AA, and in the control gr oup it was 4.2% CC, 33.8% CA, 62.0% AA, with P = 0.35. Participants less th an 55 years of age and those more than 55 had quite similar distributions. Conclusions: Angiotensin converting enzyme and AT1R polymorphisms have no p art in the mechanism of NAION. Thus drugs such as ACE inhibitors or AT1R an tagonists are not specifically indicated for treatment of these patients. O phthalmology 2000;107:1717-1720 (C) 2000 by the American Academy of Ophthal mology.