Genetic heterogeneity in the renin-angiotensin system and the risk of diabetic nephropathy: association with the angiotensinogen gene, but not with the ACE gene

Journal of Clinical and Basic Cardiology 1998; 1 (1): 55-58

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Keywords: Angiotensinogen,  Diabetes mellitus,  diabetische Nephropathie,  Peptidyl-Dipeptidase-A,  Renin-Angiotensin-System,  angiotensinogen-genetics,  Diabetes mellitus,  diabetic nephropathy,  peptidyl-dipeptidase-A-genetics,  renin-angiotensin system

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a serious complication in a subgroup of patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). In order to examine a genetic predisposition to DN we determined the genotypes of the ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism and the M235T variant of angiotensinogen (AGT) gene in 199 blood donors (healthy controls), 55 IDDM patients with DN (median duration of diabetes 28 years, range 6-50) and 44 IDDM patients without DN (median duration 20 years, range 10-46). A statistically significant difference for genotype and allele frequencies was found for the angiotensinogen gene, but not for the ACE gene. The AGT T235 allele frequency was similar in healthy controls and IDDM patients with DN (0.42 vs. 0.45). In IDDM patients without DN the T235 allele frequency was 0.28 (Odds ratio for an additive effect of the T235 variant: 2.10; 95 % CI 1.16?3.81). We conclude that the ACE I/D polymorphism does not provide a risk marker, but that the absence of the AGT T235 allele seems to be associated with a decreased risk for DN in IDDM patients. J Clin Basic Cardiol 1998; 1: 55-8.