ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene and exercise-induced silent myocardial ischemia (SI) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and eight patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus with normal rest electrocardiograph and 50 healthy individuals were selected randomly. SI was diagnosed with treadmill exercise test and ACE genotypes were detected with PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The control group and type 2 diabetes mellitus group had similar distribution of ACE genotypes and alleles (P>0.05). Compared with the non-SI group, the SI group had significantly higher ACE D allele prevalence (Chi-square=4.501, P<0.05); however, the two groups had similar prevalence of ACE genotypes (P>0.05). (2) There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics and serum lipoproteins among the three ACE genotypes (II, DD,ID) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (P>0.05). (3) The prevalence of SI in DD group was found to be 68.2%, which was significantly higher than that in II genotype group (39.5%, Chi-square=4.593, P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>ACE D allele increases the risk of SI in type 2 diabetes mellitus.</p>