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(Circulation. 1995;91:2721-2724.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.
Articles |
From Semeiotica Medica, Center of Hypertension and Cardiorespiratory Risk Factors, University of Brescia and I Divisione Medicina Generale, Spedali Civili di Brescia (M.C., M.L.M., D.R., M.B., A.C., M.S., E.P., G.B., E.A.R.); the Divisione Medicina Generale, Ospedale di Gavardo (G.P.); and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass (R.K., K.L.).
Correspondence to Dr Maurizio Castellano, UOP Scienze Mediche, University of Brescia, c/o I Medicina, Spedali Civili di Brescia, 25100 Brescia, Italy. E-mail castell@master.cci.unibs.it.
| Abstract |
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Methods and Results Considering that a genetically determined overactivity of the renin-angiotensin system may influence cardiac as well as vascular growth, we investigated possible relations between ACE I/D genotype and carotid artery wall thickness (B-mode ultrasound) in 199 subjects, 50 to 64 years old, sampled from the general population of Vobarno, a small town in northern Italy. ACE DD genotype was associated with significantly higher common carotid artery intima-media thickness (P=.003). The occurrence of carotid atherosclerotic plaques was similar in the different genotypes. There was no association of the ACE I/D genotype with blood pressure values (either casual or 24-hour ambulatory monitored).
Conclusions ACE DD genotype may be considered a risk factor for the development of common carotid intima-media thickening in our study population.
Key Words: angiotensin enzymes arteries population genes
| Introduction |
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An association with ischemic heart disease was found in the ECTIM study, which showed that the DD genotype is more frequent in patients with recent myocardial infarction2 and in subjects with a parental history of fatal myocardial infarction.3 This observation has been supported by other studies and extended to different pathological conditions.4 5 6 7 8 9 On the other hand, there are also contrasting results10 11 12 ; therefore, a conclusive agreement about the role of ACE genotype in the genetics of cardiovascular disease is still far from being reached.
Through its role in the conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II and in the inactivation of kinins, ACE may modulate cardiovascular growth.13 This is the rationale underlying the recently reported association of DD genotype with the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, as defined by ECG criteria14 or echocardiography15 ; furthermore, DD genotype frequency has been found to be increased in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.10
An association between increased intima-media thickness of common carotid arteries and higher plasma ACE activity has recently been described.16 In this study, we investigated the possible relation of ACE I/D genotype with carotid wall thickness in a sample of a general population. Subjects were recruited from a cross-sectional study designed to investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular structural alterations in the middle-aged general population of Vobarno, a small town of northern Italy.
| Methods |
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After overnight fasting, blood samples were taken for serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and uric acid measurement, as well as for genomic DNA extraction.
Blood pressure was evaluated by measuring casual blood pressure in standardized conditions and by noninvasive 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (Spacelab Inc), with measurements every 20 minutes during the day (7 AM to 11 PM) and every 30 minutes during the night.
B-Mode Ultrasound
B-mode ultrasound (Hewlett Packard Sonos
1000) was used to
directly image arterial walls of the extracranial carotid arteries.
Investigations were performed by two trained sonographers, and
videotape recordings were subsequently examined by two independent
readers using measure-morphometric software implemented in the
echocardiograph. The distance between the lumen-intima interface and
the media-adventitia interface, which represents the so-called
"intima-media thickness" (IMT), was measured in the common
carotid, the carotid bifurcation, and the origin of internal carotid of
both sides. Several measures (6 to 12) were obtained in each arterial
segment according to a previously described protocol,17
and the mean value of all measurements on both sides was calculated.
Mean absolute difference ±SD between replicate scans of the common
carotid was measured in a subgroup of 20 subjects, resulting in
0.05±0.04 and 0.06±0.03 mm for intraobserver and interobserver
comparisons, respectively.
Detection of ACE I/D Polymorphism
Genomic DNA was
extracted from peripheral blood samples by
standard techniques. The polymerase chain reaction was optimized to
avoid mistyping of ID heterozygotes18 19 ; we used a
set of
primers (sense, 5'-GCCCTGCAGGTGTCTGCAGCATGT-3'; antisense,
5'-GGATGGCTCTCCCCGC CTTGTCTC-3') that have a higher GC content and
lower free energy at the 3' end, compared with previously published
primers,1 and used dimethyl sulfoxide 5% in the
amplification mixture. The amplified products (319 bp and 597 bp for
D and I alleles, respectively) were fractionated
on 1.5% agarose gel and visualized by ethidium bromide staining. We
did not notice any ambiguous readings, and a second amplification of a
random subset of DD genotypes with an
insertion-specific antisense primer18 always showed
consistent results.
Statistical Analysis
Statistical analysis of differences in
means or proportions
between ACE genotypes was performed with ANOVA and
2 statistics, respectively. In addition, the
association of ACE genotype with carotid thickness was
investigated by means of logistic regression
analysis,20 taking into account potential confounding
variables such as age, sex, blood pressure, body mass index, smoking
habits, serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and uric acid;
we also considered any chronic cardiovascular or hypolipidemic drug
therapy as potentially interfering and repeated the analyses after
exclusion of treated subjects. We examined our data according to a
recessive (DD versus DI/II), codominant
(DD versus DI versus II), or dominant
(DD/DI versus II) genetic model.
| Results |
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No significant differences between genotypes were found with
respect to sex, age, body mass index, casual and 24-hour monitored
blood pressures, serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, or
uric acid (Table 1
).
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Carotid wall thicknesses were not significantly different among ACE
ID genotypes in an overall analysis. Common
carotid artery mean IMT of DD subjects was slightly higher
compared with DI/II, but the difference was of borderline
statistical significance (P=.058) in a multivariate
analysis. However, common carotid artery mean IMT was significantly
higher in DD subjects (Table 2
) in a
multivariate analysis of subjects without chronic drug treatment
(DD versus DI/II, P=.003). In these
subjects, there was also a trend toward a dominant effect
(DD/DI versus II) in carotid bifurcation
and internal carotid IMTs, but the differences were not statistically
significant after correction for confounding variables.
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Several different criteria have been used to define the dichotomous
variable presence/absence of atheromatous plaques in the carotid
district. In this study, we considered three different criteria: (1)
IMT
1.3 mm,17 (2) IMT
1.5 mm,21 and (3)
distinct areas where IMT was more than 50% greater than adjacent
sites.22 Regardless of the definition criterion used, no
association of ACE genotype with the occurrence of
atherosclerotic plaques in the examined carotid segments was found
(Table 3
).
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| Discussion |
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Vascular thickening may be influenced by a genetically determined overactivity of circulating or autocrine/paracrine renin-angiotensin systems.25 This aspect has not been investigated, but our finding could be regarded as the genotypic counterpart of the previously observed association of higher plasma ACE activity with common carotid wall thickening.16 It has been reported that the D allele is associated with increased circulating ACE activity,1 suggesting that the I/D region may be linked to sequences of the ACE gene that control its transcription or the bioactivity of the enzyme; the key role of ACE in the formation of angiotensin II and inactivation of kinins would represent the final link to vascular growth.13 Alternatively, ACE ID polymorphism may be linked to a close, unidentified gene that plays a role in vascular growth regulation.
In conclusion, we observed a statistically significant increase of common carotid IMT in the DD subjects, whose consistency in different populations and pathophysiological relevance still need to be assessed by larger and prospective association studies or linkage-based family studies.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received March 8, 1995; revision received March 27, 1995; accepted April 3, 1995.
| References |
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