Angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene (I/D) polymorphism in patients with migraine

ABSTRACT Migraine is most common episodic primary headaches There are too many unknowns about this pathogenesis. Migraine is a disease that caused by environmental and genetic factors. Althought when the patients with migraine without aurą, ACE gene I/D polymorphism was investigating, no published study was present in the literature about patients with aura. This is the first study that investigating the ACE gene I/D polymorphism about the patients who have migraine with aura. Total 53 patients who have migraine with aura were enrolled to the study according to International Headache Society criteria. All patients have informed and 10 cc blood samples were taken to the tubes that contain EDTA for DNA extracting. Isolated genomic DNA was investigating for ACE gene polymorphism with the methods that mentioned above. The results were compared with the data, obtained in the healthy Turkish subjects. The incidence of ACE D/D polymorphism was high in the patients, who have migraine with aura. The DD genotype was significantly higher in these patients compared with the healthy subjects (p 0,000). DD genotype significantly higher compared the subjects with DD genotype to the subject with ID genotype. ACE gene polymorphism is related to vascular diseases such as nephropathy and coroner artery diseases. In the migraine with aura that is a subgroup of the migraine, vascular disreaction and/or autonomic disregulation taught to play important role in the pathogenesis; thus in conclusion DD genotype that has a significant differences in the ACE gene polymorphism, has related with the pathogenesis. Protein function changes due to polymorphism may explain the susceptibility to the disease and clinical condițions in the development of the disease. The results of our study may be important in the response to the ACE inhibitors that used for migraine prophylaxis Keywords: migraine with aura, ACE gene polymorphism, genetic.