Angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D polymorphism is a genetic biomarker of diabetic peripheral neuropathy: evidence from a meta-analysis

The Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) I/D polymorphism has been indicated to be correlated with peripheral neuropathy (PN) susceptibility, but study results are still debatable. Thus, a meta-analysis was conducted. Databases including PubMed, Embase and CNKI were searched. Data were extracted and pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Eight studies with 1430 cases and 1873 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The association between ACE I/D polymorphism and PN risk was significant (OR = 1.25; 95% CI 1.05-1.48; P = 0.01). When stratified by ethnicity, the significantly increased PN risk was observed in Caucasians (OR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.05-1.47; P = 0.01). In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested that ACE I/D polymorphism was a risk factor for PN.