Ischemic stroke is death of brain tissue due to interruption of blood flow to a region of the brain, caused by occlusion of a carotid or vertebral artery or , less likely, a cerebral vein. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a hormonal signaling mechanism implicated in the atherosclerosis and regulation of blood pressure.(1) Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a key enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system, plays important roles in vascular remodeling, atherosclerosis, and ischemic stroke .(2) It catalysis the conversion of inactive angiotensin I to active angiotensin II, which is known to be involved in vascular hypertrophy, vasoconstriction, and atherosclerotic processes .(3) The study aims to Evaluate the polymorphism of angiotensin converting enzyme gene as an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke, 60 patients with acute ischemic stroke and 30 apparently healthy subjects were taken as control group. Results show that Genotypes of ACE gene determined by PCR technique were defined as DD, II and ID according to the presence of the D (deletion) and I (insertion) alleles. There was statistically significant difference in both the genotypic distribution and allelic frequency between the patients versus healthy controls (O.R. = 4.35 , CI95% 1.05 – 18.03) of the DD genotype and D allele making them consider as an independent risk factors for ischemic stroke
Keywords: Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Gene, Ischemic Stroke, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Polymorphism
