Volume 9, Number 1, March 2008

Lack of association between the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene (I/D) polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy in Tunisian type 2 diabetic patients
Imen Arfa, Abdelmajid Abid, Sonia Nouira, Houda Elloumi-Zghal, Dhafer Malouche, Imen Mannai, Mohamed Majdi Zorgati, Nissaf Ben Alaya, Ahmed Rebai, Béchir Zouari, Slim Ben Ammar, Mohamed Chiheb Ben Rayana, Slama Hmida, Samira Blousa-Chabchoub, Sonia Abdelhak

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism is associated with diabetic nephropathy and type 2 diabetes in the Tunisian population.
Design: A case-control study was conducted among 141 unrelated type 2 diabetic patients with (90 patients) or without nephropathy (51 patients) and 103 non-diabetic controls with normal fasting blood glucose. Genotyping was performed using a nested polymerase chain reaction amplification in order to identify correctly heterozygous individuals.
Results: The distribution of DD, ID and II genotypes did not significantly differ between type 2 diabetic patients with or without nephropathy (DD: 44%; ID: 46%; II: 10% vs. DD: 41%; ID: 47 %; II: 12%, respectively). There was also no significant statistical difference between the genotype distribution and allele frequencies of the (I/D) polymorphism in all type 2 diabetic subjects compared to non-diabetic controls with normal fasting blood glucose (DD: 43%; ID: 46%; II: 11% vs. DD: 37%; ID: 48%; II: 15%, respectively).
Conclusions: In the present preliminary study, the (I/D) polymorphism within the ACE gene is likely not associated with diabetic nephropathy nor with type 2 diabetes in the Tunisian studied population.

JRAAS 2008;9:32-36.

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