RESUMO
Although the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is a strong candidate gene for hypertension, the extensively studied insertion-deletion dimorphism in intron 16 was not found to be associated with it. Several new polymorphisms in the ACE gene were identified, among which a dimorphism in exon 17, ACE G2350A, has a significant effect on plasma ACE concentrations. To assess the value of genotyping the ACE G2350A dimorphism in a genetically homogeneous population, we carried out a retrospective, case-control study of dimorphism G2350A for a putative association with essential hypertension (EH) in a Gulf population (Emirati)--an ethnic group characterized by no alcohol intake and no cigarette smoking. We investigated a sample population of 254 Emirati, comprising 136 normotensive controls, and 118 patients with clinical diagnoses of EH. ACE G2350A alleles were visualized by assays based on polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease analysis. The ACE G2350A dimorphism showed an association with EH (chi2=6.71, 2 df, P=0.05). Further analysis revealed that the ACE G/G 2350 genotype was positively associated (OR=1.06-3.07, P=0.02) with EH. This is the first association study of the ACE G2350A dimorphism with EH, and the positive result might indicate that ACE could be a QTL for EH as originally thought.