title: Association between I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene and sarcoidosis in Turkish patients.
abstract: Sarcoidosis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a complex pathogenesis and unknown etiology characterized by noncaseating granulomas that invade the lungs, eyes, liver and other organs. Insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in the gene encoding the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) has been studied to examine the genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis in different populations, but the results have been inconsistent and inconclusive. This study aimed to determine the frequencies of the genotypes and alleles of I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene in Turkish patients as a distinct ethnic group and to investigate whether such polymorphism is associated with predisposition to sarcoidosis. Genomic DNA samples obtained from 154 individuals (70 patients with sarcoidosis and 84 healthy controls) were used in the study. The DNA was amplified using polymerase chain reactions using allele-specific primers. The amplified products were analyzed by 2 % agarose gel electrophoresis followed by UV transillumination. The allele frequencies and genotype distribution of the groups were analyzed using the Chi square test. There were no significant differences between the controls and sarcoidosis cases with respect to genotype distribution (χ(2) = 4.202, p = 0.122) and allele frequencies (χ(2) = 1.358, p = 0.244). Our results suggest that I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene does not cause a genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis in Turkish patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Gaziemir State Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gülden
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sarı
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Odunpazarı, 26480, Eskisehir, Turkey. faruk.saydam@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saydam
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Odunpazarı, 26480, Eskisehir, Turkey.
authors.forename: İrfan
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Değirmenci
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Odunpazarı, 26480, Eskisehir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan Veysi
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Güneş
keywords: ACE gene; I/D polymorphism; Inflammatory; Noncaseating granuloma; Sarcoidosis