Introduction: The most important complication of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is secondary amyloidosis, which can lead to kidney failure. Genetic variability in the genes of various components of the renin-angiotensin system may play a role in the pathogenesis of the kidney disorders. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene I/D variant and risk of developing FMF-related amyloidosis in Turkish patients.Materials and Methods: A total of 240 individuals consisting of 40 patients with FMF-related amyloidosis, 100 FMF patients without amyloidosis, and 100 healthy controls were recruited. For all of the participants, ACE I/D variant was detected by the polymerase chain reaction using specific primers.Results: A significant difference was found between the patients with FMF-related amyloidosis and the control group as for genotype distribution of ACE I/D variant (P<.05). The ACE D/D and I/D genotypes were more frequent in the patients with FMF-related amyloidosis while the I/I genotype was less frequent in the same patients. The FMF patients (with and without amyloidosis) had significantly higher percentages of the D/D and I/D genotypes than the healthy controls (P<.05). Comparison between the subgroups of FMF patients, divided into those with and without amyloidosis, yielded a significant correlation according to ID+II versus DD genotypes (P<.03, odds ratio, 3.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 12.01).Conclusions: Based on these observations, the ACE I/D variant D/D genotypes implicate a possible risk in the FMF-related amyloidosis among Turkish population.

Introduction. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphisms have been studied in different ethnic populations.We assessed the ACE gene insertion/deletion alleles frequencies and genotype distributions in a group of individuals from among the general population of west Azarbaijan, Iran, in order to determine the prevalence of deletion/deletion (D/D), deletion/insertion (D/I) and insertion/insertion (I/I) genotypes.Materials and Methods. In a cross-sectional study, 167 healthy individuals were enrolled in a randomized fashion. They were selected from the general population of west Azerbaijan, Iran.Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to determine the ACE D/D, D/I and I/I genotypes.Results. The ACE alleles were D and I in 59.7% and 40.3% of the women, 59.3% and 40.7% of the men and 59.6% and 40.4% of all of the participants, respectively. The D/D, D/I, and I/I genotypes were observed in 22 (40.7%), 20 (37%), and 12 (22.2%) men, 41 (36.3%), 53 (46.9%), and 19 (16.8%) women, and 63 (37.7%), 73 (43.7%), and 31 (18.6%) participants, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that differences in ACE D and I alleles and genotype frequencies were not significant between the men and the women.Conclusions. In this study on the general population of west Azarbaijan, the frequencies of the ACE D and I alleles were 59.6% and 40.4%. The ACE D/D, D/I and I/I genotypes were seen in 37.7%, 43.7%, and 18.6% of the studied population, respectively.

Background and Aim: COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A few studies with conflicting results have been performed to evaluate the relationship between the use of angiotensin system inhibitors and COVID-19 outcomes. Therefore, this study was performed to compare the clinical and paraclinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in two groups of patients treated with Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and the control group (no history of ACEIs/ARBs) in Kamkar and Shahid Beheshti hospitals in Qom City, Iran from March 14, 2019, to the end of September 21, 2020. Materials and Methods: This retrospective descriptive study was performed by reviewing the medical record of 359 patients with COVID-19, which was confirmed by a physician via lung scan or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We used the independent t test to compare quantitative variables and the Chi-square test to analyze qualitative variables. Results: The common clinical symptoms, number of hospitalization days, oxygen saturation, and lung involvement were not significantly different between the two groups. Weakness, nausea, and sweating were significantly reduced in the control group compared to the ACEIs/ ARBs group (P<0. 05). Regarding the biochemical study, the patients’,hemoglobin levels and lymphocyte count on the first day of hospitalization in the ACEIs/ARBs group were significantly lower than the control (P<0. 05) Conclusion: These findings do not provide evidence of adverse or beneficial effects of angiotensin system inhibitors, so we require more detailed studies with a larger sample size.