A Prospective Evaluation of an Angiotensin-Converting–Enzyme Gene Polymorphism and the Risk of Ischemic Heart Disease

Abstract
In a previous study, men with a history of myocardial infarction were found to have an increased prevalence of homozygosity for the deletional allele (D) of the angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) gene. The D allele is associated with higher levels of ACE, which may predispose a person to ischemic heart disease. We investigated the association between the ACE genotype and the incidence of myocardial infarction, as well as other manifestations of ischemic heart disease, in a large, prospective cohort of U.S. male physicians.