Lack of influence of the ACE1 gene I/D polymorphism on the formation and growth of benign uterine leiomyoma in Turkish patients.

Uterine leiomyomas (ULM), are benign tumors of the smooth muscle cells of the myometrium. They represent a common health problem and are estimated to be present in 30-70% of clinically reproductive women. Abnormal angiogenesis and vascular-related growth factors have been suggested to be associated with ULM growth. The angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) is related with several tumors. The aim of this study was to identify possible correlation between ULM and the ACE I/D polymorphism, to evaluate whether the ACE I/D polymorphism could be a marker for early diagnosis and prognosis. ACE I/D was amplified with specific primer sets recognizing genomic DNA from ULM (n=72) and control (n=83) volunteers and amplicons were separated on agarose gels. The observed genotype frequencies were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (χ2=2.162, p=0.339). There was no association between allele frequencies and study groups (χ2=0.623; p=0.430 for ACE I allele, χ2=0.995; p=0.339 for ACE D allele). In addition, there were no significant differences between ACE I/D polymorphism genotype frequencies and ULM range in size and number (χ2=1.760; p=0.415 for fibroid size, χ2=0.342; p=0.843 for fibroid number). We conclude that the ACE gene I/D polymorphism is not related with the size or number of ULM fibroids in Turkish women. Thus it cannot be regarded as an early diagnostic parameter nor as a risk estimate for ULM predisposition.