Association study of ACE2 (angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2) gene polymorphisms with coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction in a Chinese Han population

Results are accumulating that ACE2 (angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2) might act as a protective protein for cardiovascular diseases; however, only a few studies in human populations have been carried out. This prompted us to perform a case-control study to investigate the relationship of ACE2 polymorphisms with CHD (coronary heart disease) and MI (myocardial infarction). Three single nucleotide polymorphisms in the ACE2 gene (1075A/G, 8790A/G and 16854G/C) were genotyped by PCR-RFLP (restriction-fragment-length polymorphism) in 811 patients with CHD (of which 508 were patients with MI) and 905 normal controls in a Chinese population. The polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium (r²=0.854–0.973). Analyses were conducted by gender, because the ACE2 gene is on the X chromosome. In females, an association was detected with MI for 1075A/G (P=0.026; odds ratio=1.98) and 16854G/C (P=0.028; odds ratio=1.97) in recessive models after adjusting for covariates. In male subjects, two haplotypes (AAG and GGC) were common in frequency. In male subjects not consuming alcohol, the haplotype GGC was associated with a 1.76-fold risk of CHD [95% CI (confidence interval), 1.15–2.69; P=0.007] and a 1.77-fold risk of MI (95% CI, 1.12–2.81; P=0.015) with environmental factors adjusted, when compared with the most common haplotype AAG. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that common genetic variants in the ACE2 gene might impact on MI in females, and may possibly interact with alcohol consumption to affect the risk of CHD and MI in Chinese males.