Published research has described increased expression of AT1R and ACE in tissues from MS patients and in animal models of MS such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).
We investigated the effect of the functional insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene on the response to interferon-β (IFN-β) therapy in Croatian and Slovenian patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The components of renin-angiotensin system, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensin II and angiotensin II receptor type 1 and 2 (AT1R and AT2R), are expressed in the central nervous system and leukocytes and proposed to be involved in the inflammation and pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS).
The ACE I/D polymorphism is not a risk factor for development of MS, nor does it contribute to disease severity in this Bosnia and Herzegovina population.
A total of 195 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 126 controls were investigated for angiotensinogen/(-6)A/G, M235T/and angiotensin converting enzyme I/D gene polymorphisms to test their association with MS susceptibility and/or disease progression using Global Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS).
ACE levels in CSF were lower in patients with NMO/NMOs (34.3+/-5.61 ng/ml) than in MS patients (42.5+/-8.19 ng/ml, P(corr)=0.035) and controls (44.7+/-4.02 ng/ml, P(corr)<0.0003) while ACE2 levels were lower in NMO/NMOs (1.13+/-0.49 ng/ml) and MS (1.75+/-0.86 ng/ml) patients than in controls (2.76+/-0.23 ng/ml, P(corr)<0.001 for both).