Aims: Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism has been associated with the genetic susceptibility to several cardiovascular diseases; however, its association with cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) in different populations needs to be clarified. The purpose of this study was to identify the CRF patterns associated with the ACE I/D polymorphism in women from different Mexican communities.
Methods: ACE I/D polymorphism was determined in two groups of healthy young women: 105 from an urban community and 59 from a semi-urban community using the polymerase chain reaction technique. Distributions of clinical and laboratory profiles among I/D genotypes were analyzed.
Results: Women from the semi-urban community had significantly larger waist diameter and higher diastolic blood pressure than women from the urban community (p = 0.003 and p = 0.0055). Differences in the distribution of total cholesterol (p = 0.0008), triglycerides (p = 0.0091), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (p = 0.0272) between genotypes in each community were identified. Women with II genotype had larger values of these CRFs. Estimated risks showed that women from the urban community with the II genotype have three times more risk of having abnormal LDL-C values than women with ID genotype (p = 0.041). Estimated risks between women from semi-urban and urban community showed that urban women have 2.7 and 2.2 times more risk to have abnormal values of LDL-C and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, respectively (p = 0.010 and p = 0.029), and that women from semi-urban community have three times more risk of having a waist diameter above 80 cm compared to the urban community (p = 0.011).
Conclusion: The results showed that II homozygous women have higher risk of having high levels lipids and triglycerides than women with ID genotype.