Bradykinin B 2 Receptor Gene Polymorphism Is Associated With Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor–Related Cough

Abstract

—The appearance of cough in association with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is thought to be related to bradykinin, and it has been speculated that the elicitation of adverse effects is genetically predetermined. Several polymorphisms of the human bradykinin B2 receptor gene may be involved in ACE inhibitor–related cough. To investigate this possibility, we identified the −58 thymine (T)/cytosine (C) polymorphism in subjects with ACE inhibitor–related cough. We classified the study population into 4 groups: subjects with and without cough that were treated with ACE inhibitors (n=30/30), nontreated essential hypertensive subjects (n=100), and normotensive subjects (n=100). The −58T/C was genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism method. The frequencies of the CC genotype and C allele of −58T/C were significantly higher in the nontreated hypertensive subjects than in the normotensive subjects. Conversely, the frequencies of the TT genotype and...