Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism with panic disorder risk: a meta-analysis

Many studies have focused on the relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and panic disorder risk, but the results remain inconsistent. Thus, a meta-analysis was carried out to derive a more precise estimation of the association between ACE I/D polymorphism and panic disorder risk. Relevant publications were searched in several widely used databases and five studies were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the strength of the association between ACE I/D polymorphism and panic disorder risk. Significant associations between ACE I/D polymorphism and panic disorder risk were observed in overall meta-analysis for DD versus II (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.40-0.84) and DD versus DI+II (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.33-0.80), in Caucasian subgroup, and also in male subgroup. However, no such panic disorder risk variation was detected in the Asian subgroup or in the female subgroup. According to the results of our meta-analysis, the ACE I/D polymorphism probably associates with panic disorder risk especially in males, with the I allele acting as a risk factor.