Assessment of angiotensin converting enzyme gene polymorphism in preeclampsia mothers of Bangladesh

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the association of ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphisms with the susceptibility for preeclampsia in Bangladesh. It was a case-control study involving 220 subjects (100 preeclamptic and 120 normal pregnant women). The ACE (I/D) genotyping was done using the conventional PCR method. Overall, the frequency of ACE II genotypes was significantly (p<.05) higher in normal pregnant women than the preeclamptic women. The pregnant mother with DD genotype was at 3.43-fold higher risk (OR = 3.43; p<.01) of developing preeclampsia while pregnant mother with ID genotype was at lower risk (OR = 1.32; p>.05). On the other hand, patients having either DD or ID genotypes showed 1.9 fold (OR = 1.90; p>.05) increased risk of developing preeclampsia compared to the control group but not statistically significant. This study suggested that ACE (DD) genotypes may have strong associations with the occurrence of preeclampsia.

Impact Statement

• What is already known on this subject? The study was conducted among 100 preeclamptic and 120 normal pregnant women. The preeclamptic patients were diagnosed by protein in urine and high blood pressure. The normal pregnant women were selected with no known complications.

• What the results of this study add? Overall, the pregnant mothers with DD genotype were at 3.43-fold higher risk of developing preeclampsia while pregnant mothers with ID or II genotypes were at a lower risk.

• What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? ACE (I/D) gene would be a biomarker of early diagnosis of preeclampsia and also be helpful to intervene in personalised medicine and gene therapy as a novel treatment of preeclampsia.

Keywords:

• ACE
• angiotensin
• PCR
• polymorphism
• preeclampsia

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the physicians and nurses of Dhaka Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh for their assistance during blood collection and patient counseling. We also thank all the study participants.

Disclosure statement

All the authors reported that there is no conflict of interest.