ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism and its relationships to the components of metabolic syndrome in elderly Slovaks.

The purpose of this study was to assess clustering of Metabolic Syndrome components in aged Slovaks, and to investigate whether insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is associated with this syndrome. Data were available from 374 Slovak participants (200 females and 174 males) ranging in age between 60 and 90 years. ACE I/D polymorphism was determined by PCR amplification of the ACE gene sequence. Metabolic Syndrome was diagnosed according to criteria in the NCEP ATP-III. Elderly males and females differ significantly in the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (females 45.1 %, males 24.8%). The males and females including subjects with and without metabolic syndrome, respectively, did not differ significantly in the three genotype distributions (p = 0.603 and p = 0.247). The allele frequencies (D = 0.5483, I = 0.4517) in the entire sample fell within the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. There was no confirmed association between ACE genotype and phenotypic variation in the recognized risk components for Metabolic Syndrome in elderly Slovaks. Among other factors which may induce a difference in Metabolic Syndrome, significant effect was detected for sex, BMI, HDL, TG, glucose and the ApoB/ApoAl ratio.