Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 gene A/G polymorphism and elevated blood pressure in Chinese patients with metabolic syndrome

Zhong, Jian; Yan, Zhengchen; Liu, Daoyan; Ni, Yinxing; Zhao, Zhigang; Zhu, Shanjun; Tepel, Martin; Zhu, Zhiming

To establish whether angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) gene A/G single nucleotide polymorphism is associated with hypertension in Chinese patients with metabolic syndrome. The study was conducted in 353 patients with metabolic syndrome. The alleles of the ACE2 A/G polymorphism, which is located on the X chromosome, were detected using polymerase chain reaction and subsequent cleavage by Alu I restriction endonuclease. G allele frequencies in patients with metabolic syndrome were 36.6% in female subjects and 43.4% in male subjects, respectively. Female patients with metabolic syndrome who carry the GG genotype had a significantly higher diastolic blood pressure compared with other genotypes. Multivariate logistic regression showed that female gender (P = 0.019) and carrying only the G allele (odds ratio 2.83 [95% CI 1.36 to 5.91]; P = 0.005) were significantly associated with increased diastolic blood pressure. It is concluded that the ACE2 A/G polymorphism is associated with hypertension in patients with metabolic syndrome.