The aims of the present study were to investigate the distribution of the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene in breast cancer patients and the association between ACE genotypes and clinicopathologic features, as well as their effects on prognosis. We assessed the I/D polymophism of the ACE gene by using polymerase chain reaction from peripheral blood in breast cancer and healthy age-matched women. The clinicopathologic parameters of breast cancer patients were obtained from medical records. Of the 57 patients, 31 (54.4%) had DD, 24 (42.1%) had ID, and 2 (3.5%) had II genotypes. In control subjects, 33 (63.5%) had DD, 12 (23.1%) had ID, and 7 (13.4%) had II genotypes. The ID genotype was seen more commonly in breast cancer patients (p = .03). When the combination of ID and II genotypes was used as a reference group, the DD genotype was associated with negative hormone receptor status (p = .003), tumor size (p = .054), and lymph node involvement (p = .07) but not histologic high grade and c-erb B2 overexpression. These results suggest that the DD genotype may accompany poor prognostic factors and influence the tumor course.
The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) plays an important role not only in the regulation of vascular homeostasis but also in stimulation of hematopoiesis. We aimed to evaluate the association between insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the ACE gene and anemia at the time of the diagnosis. We enrolled 75 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 85 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants. The I/D polymorphism of ACE was identified by using polymerase chain reaction from peripheral blood samples. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS for Windows. The distributions of the ACE genotypes and alleles are similar in patients and in healthy participants (P=0.29 and P=0.08, respectively). In patients with NSCLC, 34 (45.3%) had anemia; of whom 3 (8.8%) had genotype II, 24 (70.6%) had genotype ID, and 7 (20.6%) had genotype DD (P=0.001). The patients with the II and ID genotypes had more frequent anemia at the time of the diagnosis (odds ratio = 6.02; P=0.001). Our findings suggest that I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene may influence the development of anemia in patients with NSCLC.
Aluminum (Al) is a nonessential element and humans are constantly exposed to Al as a result of an increase in industrialization and improving technology practices. Al toxicity can induce several clinical disorders such as neurotoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, hepatotoxicity, bone diseases, and anemia. This study aimed at evaluating the possible effects of short term and low dose Al exposure on hemorheological and hematological parameters in rats. Fourteen young, male Wistar albino rats were divided into two groups: 1 mg/200 g body weight of aluminum sulfate (Al(2)(SO(4))(3) was injected intraperitoneally to the first group for two weeks, three times a week. The animals of the control group received only physiological saline solution during this period. At the end of the experimental period, anticoagulated blood samples were collected and hematological parameters were determined using an electronic hematology analyzer. Red blood cell (RBC) deformability and aggregation were measured using an ektacytometer (LORCA) and plasma and whole blood viscosities were determined with a Wells-Brookfield cone-plate rotational viscometer. Significant decreases in mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red blood cell (RBC) deformability at low shear stress levels, the aggregation half time (t1/2) and the amplitude (AMP) of aggregation and significant increments in whole blood viscosity (WBV) at native and 40% hematocrit (Hct) of Al-treated rats have been observed. In conclusion, low dose Al(2)(SO(4))(3) exposure for a short-time may be responsible for alterations in either rheological properties of blood or hemorheological properties through a remarkable effect on RBC membrane mechanical properties . These alterations may also play an important role in the development of anemia in the Al-treated animals.
Humans are constantly exposed to cadmium (Cd) as a result of the increase in air pollution and cigaret use. Zinc (Zn), which is an essential element for the metabolism of and the constituent of many enzymes, causes growth retardation in the deficiency status, so at present it is often added to the diet without measuring blood levels of this element. We also aimed to observe the effects of both Cd and Zn on the plasma levels of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) in this study. For this purpose, 27 young Wistar albino male rats were divided into three groups. The first group was given 50 mg/L of CdCl2, the second group received 500 mg/L of ZnSO4, and the third group, as a control, received only drinking water for 1 mo. At the end of this period, plasma GH, IGF-I, and IGFBP-3 of the animals were analyzed in the blood obtained. The significance between groups was evaluated with the Mann-Whitney U-test. According to our results, levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in the Cd-administered group were significantly lower than those of controls (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively). No statistically significant difference was observed between Zn-administered and control groups in terms of all three parameters. These results show that although the addition of Zn to the diet of healthy rats had no effect on the levels of GH, IGF-I, and IGFBP-3, Cd addition lowered the levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 but did not change the levels of GH compared to controls.
The association between the polymorphism of the angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) gene and breast cancer risk has been extensively studied, however, the studies about the prognostic factors and ACE gene polymorphism are limited in number. Our aims were to analyze the distribution of the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the ACE gene in Turkish premenopausal patients with breast cancer, which is more aggressive than the postmenopausal counterpart, and to assess whether DD genotype is associated with poor prognostic factors. The DD genotype has been shown to be associated with the increased serum and tissue levels of ACE, compared to those in II and ID genotypes. ACE genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction in 44 Turkish premenopausal patients with breast cancer and in 46 age-matched healthy premenopausal women. ACE genotypes are distributed in patients and control subjects as follows; DD is present in 25 (56.8%), ID in 17 (38.6%), and II in 2 (4.5%) patients, and DD in 28 (60.9%), ID in 12 (26.1%), and II in 6 (13.0%) healthy subjects, respectively. D and I alleles were found in 76.1% and 23.9% of the patients, while 73.9% and 26.1% in healthy subjects, respectively. In breast cancer patients, no significant association was observed between the ACE genotypes and poor prognostic factors, such as negative hormone receptor status, histological grade, lymph node involvement, higher number of lymph node metastases, and c-erb B2 overexpression, except that tumor size greater than 2 cm is associated with DD genotype ( p = 0.02). Thus, ACE may influence the local tumor growth of breast cancer in premenopausal patients.premenopause breast cancer; ACE gene polymorphism; poor prognostic factors
The ACE gene polymorphism was not associated with PCOS. However, the presence of D allele was associated with higher rate of insulin resistance in patients with PCOS.
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