ACE gene I/D polymorphism and obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Adipose tissue expresses all the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components that play an important role in the adipogenesis, lipid and glucose metabolism regulation in an auto/paracrine manner. The classical RAS has been found to be over-activated during the adipose tissue enlargement, thus elevated Generation of Angiotensin II (Ang II) may contribute to the obesity pathogenesis. Obesity rates continue to increase worldwide. The question arises whether obesity is truly perceived as a risk factor and a disease. Then, the association between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene I/D polymorphism and the risk of overweight/obesity remains controversial. We investigated the possible relationship between ACE gene I/D polymorphism and obesity in Tunisian type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. In this study, obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) value ≥ 25 kg/m2 and subjects were classified into 4 groups (lean, normal, overweight, and obese). ACE genotyping was determined by PCR. Finding of 47.9% of hypertensives among the subjects having DD genotype and BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 is consistent with an additive effect of DD genotype and obesity. In conclusion, the present study implies that genotyping of the ACE gene I/D polymorphism could in the future become an important part of the clinical process of risk identification for T2DM in Tunisian population.