Henry Chima Okpara

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) regulates blood pressure and its increased level has been implicated in the microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus. These complications arise by chronic hyperglycaemia progressively causing formation of advanced glycation end products generating free radicals that lead to tissue damage. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the serum level of angiotensin converting enzyme in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHOD: A cross-sectional study conducted on 120 confirmed cases of adult type 2 diabetes patients who were on hypoglycaemic medication (but not taking ACE inhibitors) and 120 apparently healthy age-matched control subjects. Blood was collected in plain and lithium heparin bottles (for ACE and other analytes) respectively. Serum ACE levels were estimated with Eton Bioscience ELISA kits. Plasma electrolytes were analysed with ion selective electrodes while plasma urea and creatinine were estimated with Randox test kits, to assess renal function. Data generated was analysed with SPSS version 20.0. RESULTS: The mean ACE level in diabetic subjects was 25.61 ± 0.63 IU/L, and 23.69 ± 0.84 IU/L for control subjects (p = 0.01). While there was difference in ACE levels among the male diabetic subjects and control subjects (p = 0.04), there was no such difference among the females (P = 0.10). There was no association between the ACE levels and the parameters of renal function. CONCLUSION: The study found out that serum ACE was higher in diabetes male subjects. Despite the progressive effect of diabetes on renal function, the enzyme level was not affected by the duration of diabetes.