Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Gene InsertionDeletion Polymorphism and Small Vessel Cerebral Stroke in Indian Population

Abstract EN

Background.

Hypertension is an established risk factor for small-vessel cerebral stroke and the renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the maintenance of blood pressure.

We aimed at evaluating the contribution of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism to the risk of small-vessel stroke in south Indian population.

Materials and Methods.

We investigated 128 patients diagnosed with small-vessel stroke and 236 age, and gender-matched healthy controls.

ACE I/D polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction.

Results.

Hypertension was significantly more prevalent in the patient group and was associated with 6-fold increase in risk for stroke.

ACE genotypes were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both patients and controls.

Prevalence of DD, ID, and II genotypes in cases (34.4%, 43.7%, and 28%) did not differ significantly from controls (31.8%, 43.2%, and 25%).

The polymorphism was not associated with small-vessel stroke (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 0.52–1.55).

However, diastolic blood pressure was associated with the ACE I/D genotypes in the patients.

(DD; 90.2±14.2> ID; 86.2±11.9> II; 82.3±7.8 mm Hg, P=0.047).

Conclusion.

Our study showed that hypertension, but not ACE I/D polymorphism, increased the risk of small-vessel stroke.