title: Novel approach of molecular genetic understanding of iridology: relationship between iris constitution and angiotensin converting enzyme gene polymorphism.
abstract: Iridology is the study of the iris of the eye to detect the conditions of the body and its organs, genetic strengths and weaknesses, etc. Although iridology is not widely used as a scientific tool for healthcare professionals to get to the source of people's health conditions, it has been used as a supplementary source to help the diagnosis of medical conditions by noting irregularities of the pigmentation in the iris among some Korean Oriental medical doctors. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism is one of the most well studied genetic markers of vascular disease. We investigated the relationship between iridological constitution and ACE polymorphism in hypertensives. We classified 87 hypertensives and 79 controls according to iris constitution and determined the ACE genotype of each individual. DD genotype was more prevalent in patients with a neurogenic constitution than in controls. This finding supports the hypothesis that D allele is a candidate gene for hypertension and demonstrates the association among ACE genotype, Korean hypertensives and iris constitution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 130-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Um
authors.forename: Nyeon-Hyoung
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Gui-Bi
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Geon-Mok
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ju-Jang
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Jae-Woon
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Woo-Jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Han-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Hyung-Ryong
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung-Heon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hyung-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics; D007498:Iris / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008518:Medicine, East Asian Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A