RESUMO
The aim of the paper is to determine whether the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism is associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and inguinal hernia. A case-control study was conducted in 264 subjects: 65 patients with AAA, 91 patients with inguinal hernia, 19 patients with both AAA and hernia, and 89 controls were investigated for the ACE I/D polymorphism. Genotype analysis was performed using a polymerase chain reaction technique. Significant differences in the genotype between the patient groups and controls were identified (aneurysm versus control, P = 0.011; aneurysm plus hernia versus control, P = 0.022; hernia versus control, P = 0.001), whereas no differences were found within patient groups. Patients with AAA and/or hernia had an increased prevalence of I/D heterozygosity, which persisted even after adjusting for differences in confounding clinical variables (aneurysm versus control, OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2-0.8, P = 0.005; aneurysm plus hernia versus control, OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.9, P = 0.040; hernia versus control, OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.7, P = 0.004). In conclusion, an association between the heterozygote ACE I/D state and the presence of AAA and/or hernia was identified. The role of the ACE I/D polymorphism in aneurysm and hernia needs further investigation.
Assuntos
Aneurisma da Aorta Abdominal/genética , Hérnia Inguinal/genética , Polimorfismo Genético , Idoso , Análise de Variância , Aneurisma da Aorta Abdominal/enzimologia , Estudos de Casos e Controles , Distribuição de Qui-Quadrado , Frequência do Gene , Predisposição Genética para Doença , Grécia , Hérnia Inguinal/enzimologia , Heterozigoto , Humanos , Modelos Logísticos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Razão de Chances , Fenótipo , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
Polymorphism in the apolipoprotein E gene has been associated with several neurological, cardiological and ophthalmological diseases. Apolipoprotein E is involved in psoriasis by modifying mitogen-activated T lymphocyte proliferation and by assuring protection against some infections. We evaluated the apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism in patients suffering from psoriasis (compared to matched controls) in Thrace, Northern Greece. One hundred and forty patients suffering from psoriasis vulgaris and 155 matched controls were included in this study and genotyped by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction RFLPs; the results were evaluated by conditional logistic regression. In psoriasis vulgaris patients, the e2 allele showed higher frequency (6.1%, P = 0.021) versus matched controls (2.3%). The above data were ascertained particularly enforced in psoriasis vulgaris male patients (P = 0.031) as well as in late onset psoriasis vulgaris (P = 0.029). Implication of apolipoprotein E in the pathogenesis of psoriasis has been indicated. Allele e2 is more frequent in psoriatic patients and its presence is more evident in late onset psoriasis vulgaris.
