Genome-Wide Scan for Quantitative Ace Activity in Taiwan Young-Onset Hypertension Study

Abstract

Objectives: Angiotensin converting enzyme ( ACE) plays major roles in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases ( CVD) . However, findings on the relations between ACE variants and CVD have not been consistent. The purpose of this study was to map quantitative trait loci ( QTL) for serum ACE activity, a heritable endophenotype of cardiovascular diseases ( estimated heritability = 0.58). Methods: With 1, 271 individuals from 373 young- onset ( age <= 40) hypertension pedigrees, 479 deCODE microsatellite markers were genotyped. Results: We identified a previously unknown loci on chromosomes 9 at 149.4 cM ( LOD = 3.00) in addition to a strong linkage peak near the ACE structural locus on chromosome 17 at 89.6 cM ( LOD = 4.60). Conclusions: These results not only indicate that the ACE gene or nearby loci on 17q was among the strongest QTL influencing ACE activity, but also reveal a potential ACE QTL in human genome, pointing to the complexity of ACE regulation.