Frequency of the Angiotensin - Converting Enzyme (ACE) Gene Polymorphism in the General Population and the Elite Endurance Students in Korea

Recently it was reported that Insertion/Deletion polymorphism in the gene coding for Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) is associated with human capacity for physical performance. This study was performed to genotyping of the ACE gene to determine the correlation between elite endurance performance and ACE I/D gene polymorphism. DNA sample was obtained from peripheral blood, hair roots and mouth epithelial cell in 739 general population and 200 elite athletic performance students. The ACE gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using allele specific oligonucleotide primers. 155, 525 bp and 237 bp PCR products indicating the presence of insertion(I) and deletion(D) alleles, respectively, were clearly resolved after electrophoresis on a 2% agarose gel with ethidium bromide. Of the 200 elite athletic performance population subjects, 68(34%) showed ACE genotype 11,100(50%) genotype ID and 32(16%) genotype DD. Of the 739 general population subjects, 259(35.1%) showed ACE genotype 11,363(49.1%) genotype ID and 117(15.8%) genotype DD. Therefore ACE I/D gene polymorphism was not associated with human capacity for physical performance.(p>0.05)