Relationship Between Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism and Number of Target Organ Damage in Essential Hypertension

Essential hypertension (HT) is a polygenic disease with genetic and environmental factors interacting with each other. HT often has early asymptomatic course but a progressive destruction on cardiovascular system. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion (I) / deletion (D) polymorphism and target organ damage (TOD) in HT. The study involved 51 hypertensive patients and 37 healthy controls. Electrocardiography, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, direct ophtalmoscopy, transthorasic echocardiography, carotis B-mode scan, and routine biochemical tests were performed in all cases. TOD numbers of the patients were determined by the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy or diastolic dysfunction, microalbuminuria, increasing carotis intima-media thickness, and hypertensive retinopathy, respectively. Genotypic identification was determined for ACE gene. TOD numbers were significantly higher in patients with DD genotype than in patients with II genotype (P<0.01). Genotypic distribution between healthy controls and hypertensive patients was similar. After the diagnosis, it might be useful to determine ACE genotypes of hypertensive patients concerning the progression and management of the disease. Genotypic determination might help to investigate and prevent the development of TOD in these patients. (Türk Kardiyol Dern Arş 2004; 32: 107-114)