Sarcoidosis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a complex pathogenesis and unknown etiology characterized by noncaseating granulomas that invade the lungs, eyes, liver and other organs. Insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in the gene encoding the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) has been studied to examine the genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis in different populations, but the results have been inconsistent and inconclusive. This study aimed to determine the frequencies of the genotypes and alleles of I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene in Turkish patients as a distinct ethnic group and to investigate whether such polymorphism is associated with predisposition to sarcoidosis. Genomic DNA samples obtained from 154 individuals (70 patients with sarcoidosis and 84 healthy controls) were used in the study. The DNA was amplified using polymerase chain reactions using allele-specific primers. The amplified products were analyzed by 2 % agarose gel electrophoresis followed by UV transillumination. The allele frequencies and genotype distribution of the groups were analyzed using the Chi square test. There were no significant differences between the controls and sarcoidosis cases with respect to genotype distribution (v 2 = 4.202, p = 0.122) and allele frequencies (v 2 = 1.358, p = 0.244). Our results suggest that I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene does not cause a genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis in Turkish patients.
Cyprus Journal of Medical Sciences (Cyprus J Med Sci) is the peer-reviewed, open access, international publication organ of Cyprus Turkish Medical Association. The journal is printed three times a year in April, August and December. The publication language of the journal is English. Cyprus Journal of Medical Sciences aims to publish manuscripts at the highest clinical and scientific level on all fields of medicine. The journal publishes original papers, review articles, case reports and letters. Cyprus Journal of Medical Sciences is indexed in Web of Science-Emerging Sources Citation Index and EBSCO.
This study demonstrated that, occupations exposed to high-density quartz dust such as sandblasting workers, are at a much higher risk of developing PMF than other professions. No significant relationship was found between large opacity size and smoking status, concomitant tuberculosis, or duration of dust exposure.
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