<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)
gene G9570A polymorphisms and the clinical outcome of
stroke patients with
essential hypertension (EH) in South
China Han
population.</p><p><b>
METHOD</b>The ACE2
gene polymorphisms were detected in 141
stroke patients with EH and 156
patients with EH using
polymerase chain reaction-
restriction fragment length polymorphism (
PCR-
RFLP). The
genetic marker was tested for its
association with the baseline measurements and clinical outcomes of the
patients over a median follow-up period of 22 months. As the ACE2
gene is X-linked, analyses were performed for
male and
female patients separately.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The A
allele frequency in the
stroke patients was significantly different from that in the EH
patients, and the AA
allele frequency in the
female patients was significantly different between the two groups (P<0.01). Kaplan-Meier model
analysis showed that ACE2
gene polymorphism was not associated with the the
patients'
prognosis (P>0.05). Multivariate Cox's proportional
hazard regression model identified age (RR=1.057, 95%CI 1.020, 1.095),
blood glucose (RR=1.575, 95%CI 1.178, 2.104),
hypertriglyceridemia (RR=1.947, 95%CI 1.503, 2.780),
blood creatinine (RR=1.034, 95%CI 1.001, 1.068), and
blood uric acid (RR=1.056, 95%CI 1.002, 1.097) as the
risk factors associated with the
mortality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>
Stroke occurs more likely in hypertensive
patients carrying the A/AA
allele than those
carrying other
alleles. The ACE2
gene G9570A polymorphisms may be associated with the occurrence of
stroke in EH
patients in South
China, but may not have a strong correlation to the
prognosis.</p>