Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (ACE I/D) and angiotensinogen (AGT M235T) polymorphisms with the risk of obesity in a Tunisian population.

Objective: This study aims to determine whether genetic variants in ACE I/D and AGT M235T are associated with overweight-obesity and body mass index (BMI) in a Tunisian population.

Methods: We designed an age- and sex-matched case-control study. The height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated. A total of 259 overweight-obese patients and 369 healthy controls were genotyped for the ACE I/D and AGT M235T genes using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Results: ACE I/D and AGT M235T genes were associated with BMI, waist circumference and overweight-obesity (p⩽0.001). In an additive model, the I and the M alleles in ACE and AGT variants, respectively, were associated with a lower BMI: -1.45 and -2.29 units, respectively. ACE I/D genotypes were associated with dyslipidemia; AGT M235T genotypes with dyslipidemia and total cholesterol.

Conclusion: These data suggest that variations in ACE I/D and AGT M235T affect the risk of overweight-obesity, BMI and dyslipidemia, and could point to a key molecular pathway of metabolic syndrome and its related comorbidities.