Impact of Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Polymorphisms on Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Risk

BACKGROUND: Genetic factors in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies have received a lot attention during the past two decades. Angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphisms were found to be associated with cardiomyopathies. However, the previous results were inconsistent. The current meta-analysis aims to examine the association of ACE I/D polymorphisms and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). METHODS: Eight studies on DCM (1387 controls and 977 patients) and eight studies on HCM (1055 controls and 827 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. RESULTS: The overall data showed no significant association between ACE I/D polymorphism and DCM risk. Further subgroup analysis by ethnicity also did not find a significantly increased risk for D allele carriers among East Asians and Europeans. However, the overall analysis suggested that the D allele carriers might be associated with increased risk of HCM (DD/ID vs. II: OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.04–2.74, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: In summary, the meta-analysis indicated that certain ACE I/D polymorphism might be associated with HCM but not DCM susceptibility. Given the limited sample sizes, further large multicenter case-control investigation is needed.