Objective: The relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) gene polymorphisms and intracranial aneurysm (IA) has been studied in Caucasian and Japanese populations. The present study aimed to investigate this association in a Chinese population.
Methods: Patients with confirmed IA and age- and sex-matched control subjects without evidence of IA were enrolled. ACE I/D gene polymorphisms were analysed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results: A total of 220 patients with IA and 220 matched controls were enrolled. In the IA group, 64, 106 and 50 patients were of the II, ID and DD genotypes, respectively, compared with 44, 99 and 77 subjects in the control group. The ACE DD genotype and D allele frequencies were significantly lower in the IA group compared with the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in the site, shape, size and Fisher Grade of aneurysms between genotypes in patients with IA.
Conclusion: The ACE DD genotype may be a protective factor for IA in a Chinese population.
Keywords: Intracranial aneurysm; angiotensin-converting enzyme; gene polymorphism.