Ace Gene Polymorphism

Discrepancies in angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE) allele genetic susceptibility with disease etiology have been attributed to ethnic differences. We investigated ACE gene polymorphism of the multiethnic Malaysian population by utilizing nested polymerase chain reaction. Allelic frequency of 0.65 and 0.35 for I and D allele, respectively in the pooled population was comparable with other Asian populations. A significant association was found between the Malaysian ethnic groups and ACE I/D genotype. The II genotype was found at higher frequency among the Malays but a greater frequency of DD genotype among Indians. gested that there is no association of disease etiology with ACE I/D gene polymorphism (Schimdt et al, 1995, Agerholm-Larsen et al, 1997; Clark et al, 2000; Moleda et al, 2006; Nacmias et al, 2007). As a result, genotype-phenotype interaction between ACE gene polymorphism and diseases have not been fully appreciated nor understood. Wide inter-ethnic variations of the ACE alleles distribution are thought to be responsible for these inconsistent findings (Barley et al, 1994). This prompted us to investigate ACE I/D gene polymorphism in the Malaysian population and ethnic groups to observe ethnicity specific ACE genotypic patterns. To our knowledge there has been no report thus far of ACE I/D gene polymorphism in the multiethnic Malaysian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS