title: The angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) locus is strongly associated with age and duration of diabetes in patients with type I diabetes.
abstract: We have investigated the frequency of the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/ deletion (I/D) polymorphism in 249 patients with type I diabetes and 162 normal healthy controls. There was no significant difference in the frequency of ACE genotypes between those patients with diabetic nephropathy (n = 72) (nephropaths) compared to those with no proteinuria after 20 years duration of diabetes (n = 86) (normoalbuminurics). There was, however, a significant difference in the frequency of ACE genotypes between the short-duration and long-term normoalbuminuric group (chi = 11.5, p = 0.001). Analysis of the ACE genotypes with respect to age and duration of diabetes showed that homozygosity for the insertion (I/I) genotype was significantly decreased with longer duration of diabetes (r2 = 92.7%, p < 0.009). No association was found with age in the normal controls. In conclusion, these results suggest that the ACE locus may be associated with longevity and survival in patients with type I diabetes rather than diabetic nephropathy or microvascular disease per se.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Postgraduate Medicine, University of Plymouth, England, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hibberd
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Millward
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Demaine
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A