BACKGROUND: There is mounting evidence that the chronic activation of renal and systemic ACE, which results in the production of Angiotensin II, is a critical step in the pathogenesis of DN. Chronic ACE activation causes an increase in intraglomerular pressure, tissue damage, pro-inflammatory effects, and promotes fibrosis.
AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine if ACE polymorphisms (I/D rs4646994 and promoter SNP, rs4292) and ACE level were related to the DN development in T2DM patients in the Egyptian community.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study is designed as a case control study which enrolled 90 subjects divided into three groups: 30 diabetic patients without DN, 30 diabetic patients with DN and 30 healthy individuals as control group. We measured for each patient the following: serum creatinine, eGFR, ACR, lipid prolife, HbA1C, as well as serum ACE level. Genotyping of ACE I/D and promoter SNP, rs4292, polymorphisms in ACE gene were performed using conventional PCR assays.
RESULTS: The laboratory data analysis revealed that the only variables across the trial groups that indicated a significant statistical difference were serum creatinine, eGFR, ACR, HDL-C, LDL-C, and HbA1c. Total cholesterol and triglycerides did not. Between the study groups, there was a substantial statistical difference in the level of serum ACE. In our population, the genotype and allele frequencies of the ACE I/D gene polymorphism varied considerably between research groups, suggesting that it may be a risk factor for DN. In comparison to individuals of the wild type (II), the (DD) genotype considerably raised the probability of progression to T2DM by about six times and of progression to DN by about ten folds. This study found that the ACE promoter rs4292 (C/T) polymorphism is a risk factor for developing DN. The (TT) genotype is associated with increased susceptibility to DN as it was higher in diabetic patients with nephropathy than the two other study groups. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the study variables among different genotypes subgroups.
CONCLUSION:According to our research, the mutant alleles (T) of the ACE promoter rs4292 (C/T) polymorphism and the ACE I/D rs4646994 polymorphism may both be risk factors for DN in the Egyptian population.