Angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D gene polymorphisms and effects of left ventricular hypertrophy in Turkish myocardial infarction patients

OBJECTIVE: Since the initial report of the association of the deletion/insertion (D/I) polymorphism in the gene for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) with myocardial infarction (MI), there has been considerable controversy. Some have found the D allele to be associated with MI, coronary heart disease (CHD) or other cardiac pathologies, while others have not. 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 patients with acute myocardial infarction in comparison with control subjects. METHODS AND RESULTS: Polymerase chain reaction, and agarose gel electrophoresis techniques were used to determine the ACE genotype in 214 subjects. The frequencies of ACE D and ACE I allele among the patients with acute myocardial infarction were 65.54% and 36.45% and in the control subjects 57.62% and 42.37%, respectively. ACE DD genotypes were found higher in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) than without LVH (55.6% vs. 37.7%; X2: 2.534, p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The ACE D allele is more frequent in patients with acute myocardial infarction than in controls. Moreover ACE DD genotype might be associated with an increased risk of left ventricular hypertrophy.