Angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D polymorphism and hypertension: the Ohasama study.
OBJECTIVE
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) I/D polymorphism in intron 16 of the ACE gene was analyzed in a general Japanese population in relation to self-blood pressure (BP) measurement at home (home BP) and ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) to determine the association between genetic variants of this polymorphism and hypertension.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study.


RESULTS
We genotyped the ACE I/D polymorphism in 1245 subjects with home BP and 803 subjects with ABPM in Ohasama, a rural community in Japan. All the subjects were 40 years of age and over, and gave written informed consent for the present genetic analysis. Hypertensive subjects were defined as those receiving antihypertensive drugs and those who had a home BP higher than 135 mmHg in systole and/or higher than 85 mmHg in diastole. The frequencies of the II, ID, and DD genotypes in these Japanese subjects were 0.45, 0.45, and 0.10, indicating a lower frequency of the D allele (0.33) than in Caucasians. There was no significant difference of BP level, prevalence of hypertension or nocturnal decline in BP among the genotypes. There were no differences in the prevalence of previous cardiovascular disease, age, body mass index, male gender, smoking, or biochemical and hormonal parameters among the three genotypes.


CONCLUSIONS
The present results indicate the absence of direct effects of the ACE D-allele on BP level, prevalence of hypertension, prevalence of cardiovascular disease, and circadian BP variation. We conclude there is little association between ACE I/D polymorphism and hypertension in the general Japanese population.
Matsubara
Mitsunobu
M
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Science, Sendai, Japan.
Suzuki
Michiko
M
Fujiwara
Tohru
T
Kikuya
Masahiro
M
Metoki
Hirohito
H
Michimata
Mari
M
Araki
Tsutomu
T
Kazama
Itsuro
I
Satoh
Tomomi
T
Hashimoto
Junichiro
J
Hozawa
Atsushi
A
Ohkubo
Takayoshi
T
Tsuji
Ichiro
I
Katsuya
Tomohiro
T
Higaki
Jitsuo
J
Ogihara
Toshio
T
Satoh
Hiroshi
H
Imai
Yutaka
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D012648:Self Care
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A