Association Between Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Genetic Polymorphism and Hypertension in a Sample of Lebanese Patients

BACKGROUND/AIM: several studies have looked at the potential link between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the risk of hypertension and have shown that the DD polymorphism may be associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension. Our objective was to assess for possible association between ACE variants and hypertension in a sample of Lebanese patients. METHODS: one hundred ninety-two Lebanese subjects were included. DNA was isolated and amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The products were identified by gel electrophoresis according to their size. RESULTS: one hundred fifteen (59.9%) patients were hypertensive and 77 (40.1%) were nonhypertensive with the following genotype frequencies: 43.4% DD, 45.2% ID, and 11.4% II compared with 35.2% DD, 51.9% ID, and 12.9% II, respectively. Age was found to be the most significant risk factor for hypertension. This was more prominent when accounting for ACE genotype; for instance, the DD genotype with age had a significantly higher odds ratio (OR = 11.852; p = 0.001) than the ID genotype with age (OR = 4.599; p = 0.006), II genotype with age (OR = 1.866; p = 0.519), and age alone (OR = 5.558; p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: our results show that the ACE I/D polymorphism is common in Lebanon, and the combinations of ACE D allele and age is associated with an increased risk of hypertension.