title: Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism in Korean patients with systemic sclerosis.
abstract: To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism is associated with the development and clinical features of systemic sclerosis (SSc) in Korean, we studied seventy two Korean patients with SSc fulfilling the ACR preliminary classification criteria. The controls were 114 healthy, disease free Koreans. ACE I/D genotypes were determined by PCR method using oligonucleotides. Sixty eight patients (94.4%) were women and age at diagnosis was 43.5+/-12.6 yr old (mean+/-SD). Thirty nine patients (54.2%) had a diffuse type of SSc. There were no statistical differences in the frequencies of all ACE I/D genotypes and D allele between patients and controls, and neither between diffuse and limited types of SSc. ACE I/D gene polymorphism was not associated with the development of SSc in Korea. The investigation for the pathogenesis of SSc requires more studies about the role of other candidate genes such as endothelin, TGF-beta, nitric oxide, or angiotensin II receptor in addition to the ACE genes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Konyang University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Chung Il
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Joung
authors.forename: Yong Wook
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sook Kyoung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Wan Sik
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Uhm
authors.forename: Tae Hwan
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dae Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yoo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A