Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism and allele frequencies in the Lebanese population: prevalence and review of the literature.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Riad El Solh, P.O. Box 11-0236, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon.

We studied the distribution of the D/D, I/D, and I/I genotypes of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in a sample of healthy Lebanese individuals to assess their prevalence and compare them with other populations. ACE genotypes were determined using the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) StripAssay, which is based on a Polymerase Chain Reaction-Reverse hybridization technique. DNA from 133 unrelated healthy donors from our HLA-bank was used. The prevalence of D/D, I/D, and I/I genotypes was found to be 39.1, 45.1, and 15.8% respectively, with D and I allelic frequency of 61.7 and 38.3%, respectively. The sampled Lebanese population showed ACE genotypic distributions similar to Caucasians; however, with tendency towards harboring high D allele frequency together with a low I allele frequency just like the Spanish population. This first report from Lebanon will serve as a baseline statistical data for future investigations of the prevalence of ACE genotypes in association with various clinical entities notably cardiovascular diseases. The medical literature was also reviewed in this context.

PMID: 17103020 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]