title: Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism with decreased risk for basal cell carcinoma.
abstract: The incidence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is significantly reduced in individuals treated with inhibitors of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) that produces angiotensin II. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible association of a functional polymorphism in the ACE gene, which affects its transcription, with risk for BCC. In DNA samples of 92 patients with BCC and 103 healthy controls of Greek origin and comparable age and gender, we studied the ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism. Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of allele and genotype frequencies between the control and patients' groups. The detected low expression I allele frequency in the group of BCC patients was significantly decreased compared to controls (15.8 vs. 31.1 %, respectively; P = 0.001). ID heterozygotes exhibited 3.06 times lower BCC risk, compared with DD homozygotes (P = 0.001; OR = 0.327, 95 % CI = 0.174-0.615). The protective role of I allele was particularly prominent in women (P = 0.007, OR = 0.299, 95 % CI = 0.125-0.716), while for men it exhibited a marginal level (P = 0.041). These findings indicate that the low expression ACE I allele carriers have a decreased risk for BCC. The protective effect of the ID genotype against BCC may be explained by a possible underlying mechanism involving the effect of produced angiotensin II levels on its receptors due to putatively different binding affinity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Athens Medical School, Attikon Hospital, Rimini 1, 12461 Athens, Greece. cyapijakis_ua_gr@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yapijakis
authors.forename: Nikolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koronellos
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spyridonidou
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vylliotis
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Avgoustidis
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Goutas
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vlachodimitropoulos
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vairaktaris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000235:genetics*; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A