High frequency of the D allele of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene in Arabic populations

BACKGROUND: The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene in humans has an insertion-deletion (I/D) polymorphic state in intron 16 on chromosome 17q23. This polymorphism has been widely investigated in different populations due to its association with the renin-angiotensin system. However, similar studies for Arab populations are limited. This study addresses the distribution of the ACE gene polymorphism in three Arab populations (Egyptians, Jordanians and Syrians). FINDINGS: The polymorphisms of ACE gene were investigated using polymerase chain reaction for detection of an I/D mutation. The results showed a high frequency of the ACE D allele among the three Arab populations, Egyptians (0.67), Jordanians (0.66) and Syrians (0.60), which is similar to those obtained from previous studies for Arab populations. CONCLUSION: The relationship between ACE alleles and disease in these three Arab populations is still not known, but the present results clearly suggest that geographic origin should be carefully considered in the increasing number of studies on the association between ACE alleles and disease etiology. This study adds to the data showing the wide variation in the distribution of the ACE alleles in different populations and highlights that great care needs to be taken when interpreting clinical data on the association of the ACE alleles with different diseases.