title: Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism in patients with multiple sclerosis from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and the inhibition of ACE in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, suggested that ACE may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of MS. We recently published the first report on the potential association of MS and ACE I/D polymorphism in Slovenian and Croatian patients with MS, in which it was shown that the DD genotype might contribute to a higher risk of developing MS in men. To confirm these findings in a similar ethnic population, we analyzed ACE I/D gene polymorphism in patients with MS from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and seventy patients with MS and 170 healthy controls were genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference in the distribution of ACE I/D genotypes (p=0.783) or in the allelic frequencies (p=0.538) between patients with MS and control subjects. When patients with MS were stratified by sex, no statistically significant differences in allele or genotype distributions were observed. Finally, there was no indication of an impact of the ACE I/D genotype on disease course or severity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ACE I/D polymorphism is not a risk factor for development of MS, nor does it contribute to disease severity in this Bosnia and Herzegovina population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Klupka-Sarić
authors.forename: Borut
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peterlin
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lovrečić
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sinanović
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vidović
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sehanović
authors.forename: Nada Starčević
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Cizmarević
authors.forename: Juraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sepčić
authors.forename: Miljenko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kapović
authors.forename: Smiljana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ristić
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: C488034:ACE protein, human; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A