Frequencies of the angiotensinogen gene and angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphisms in African Americans.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to characterize three polymorphisms within the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in an African American population. A new mispairing primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed to identify two polymorphisms (T174M, M235T) in the angiotensinogen gene. A previously described PCR method was used to identify an insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in the angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene. Forty healthy, unrelated African Americans participated. The T174M mutation occurs less frequently (5.0%) than the M235T mutation (87.5%). The ACE D polymorphism occurs at a higher rate (70%) than the I. The data reveals that the two angiotensinogen mutation allele frequencies occur at similar rates regardless of the ACE gene allele. There appears to be no association between the mutations, indicating the loci are not linked.