ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) gene polymorphisms and coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This study involved 121 patients with T2DM and 94 with diabetic macroangiopathy. The polymorphisms of G8790A in ACE2 gene was analyzed using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in these patients, and the clinical, biochemical and echocardiographic data were also analyzed. RESULTS: No obvious difference was found in the genotyping data between the two groups. Among the male patients with diabetic macroangiopathy, the interventricular septal end-diastolic thickness (IVSTd) were significantly greater in patients of GG genotypes of ACE2 gene G8790A than in those of AA genotypes (P<0.01), and the left ventricular mass (LVMI) and urine protein were also significantly higher in GG genotypes (P<0.05). No similar results were found the uncomplicated diabetic group or the female diabetic patients with CAD. CONCLUSION: The ACE2 gene G8790A polymorphism plays a role in the pathogenesis of CAD in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that ACE2 genotyping is helpful to screen the susceptible patients.
Subject(s)
Coronary Disease/genetics , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/genetics , Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A/genetics , Polymorphism, Genetic , Adult , Aged , Alleles , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 , Base Sequence , Case-Control Studies , Coronary Disease/complications , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications , Female , Gene Frequency , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genotype , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of estrogen and progesterone on the expression of dihydroxyvitamin D receptor (VDR) mRNA in the liver of ovariectomized rats. METHODS: Twenty-five adult female SD rats were randomly divided, with equal numbers, into sham-operated group (sham), ovariectomized group (OVX), ovariectomized group with estrogen treatment (OVX+E), ovariectomized group with progesterone treatment (OVX+P) and ovariectomized group with both estrogen and progesterone treatment (OVX+E+P). After 3 months and a half of feeding, all animals were killed to assess VDR mRNA by way of reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR). RESULTS: RT-PCR revealed marked increase in the band intensity corresponding to VDR mRNA product in Sham, OVX+E, and OVX+E+P groups. CONCLUSION: Estrogen may increase the transcription level of VDR gene in the liver of ovariectomized rats.
