GENETIC POLYMORPHISM OF THE ACE AND TNF-a IN
CHILDHOOD ASTHMA
Alikasifoglu M, Adalioglu G,
Saraclar Y, Tuncer A, Kuyucu S, Tuncbilek E
Hacettepe University Department of Pediatrics, Turkey
An insertion-deletion
polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been shown
to be associated with levels of ACE. Because ACE is heavily expressed in
the lungs and plays a key role in the metabolism of angiotensin II and
bradykinin, which are potentially involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. In
the present study, we examined whether asthma is linked with this ACE gene
polymorphism. Patients with asthma (n=120, 74 males and 46 females; age
11.22 ?3.69) and 52 healthy controls were determined for their genotype by
the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Fourty-six asthmatics
demonstrated the DD type (38.3%), 52 the DI type (43.4%), and 22 the II
type (18.3%). There were no significant differences in the distributions of
genotypes between healthy controls and patients. No significant differences
were evident in serum IgE levels, allergic and non-allergic asthma patients
among the three genotypes. We did not find any association between asthma
and the ACE gene polymorphism in this study.