Influences of the G2350A polymorphism in the ACE Gene on cardiac structure and function of ball game players

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Except for the I/D polymorphism in the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene, there were few reports about the relationship between other genetic polymorphisms in this gene and the changes in cardiac structure and function of athletes. Thus, we investigated whether the G2350A polymorphism in the <it>ACE </it>gene is associated with the changes in cardiac structure and function of ball game players. Total 85 healthy ball game players were recruited in this study, and they were composed of 35 controls and 50 ball game players, respectively. Cardiac structure and function were measured by 2-D echocardiography, and the G2350A polymorphism in the <it>ACE </it>gene analyzed by the SNaPshot method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were significant differences in left ventricular mass index (LVmassI) value among each sporting discipline studied. Especially in the athletes of basketball disciplines, indicated the highest LVmassI value than those of other sporting disciplines studied (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant association between any echocardiographic data and the G2350A polymorphism in the <it>ACE </it>gene in the both controls and ball game players.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggests that the G2350A polymorphism in the <it>ACE </it>gene may not significantly contribute to the changes in cardiac structure and function of ball game players, although sporting disciplines of ball game players may influence the changes in LVmassI value of these athletes. Further studies using a larger sample size and other genetic markers in the <it>ACE </it>gene will be needed.</p

Left atrioventricular remodeling in the assessment of the left ventricle diastolic function in patients with heart failure: a review of the currently studied echocardiographic variables

Multiparametric echocardiographic imaging of the failing heart is now increasingly used and useful in decision making in heart failure. The reasons for this, relies on the need of different strategies of handling these patients, as differentiation of systolic or diastolic dysfunction, as well as on the gamma of approaches available, such as percutaneous and surgical revascularization, devices implantations, and valvular regurgitations and stenosis corrections. Congestive heart failure in patients with normal left ventricular diameters or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction had been pointed out recently as present in a proportion so high as 40 to 50 percent of cases of heart failure, mainly due to the epidemics in well developed countries, as is the problem of not well controlled metabolic states (such as obesity and diabetes), but also due to the real word in developing countries, as is the case of hypertension epidemics and its lack of adequate control. As a matter of public utility, the guidelines in the diagnosis and treatment of such patients will have to be cheap, available, easily reproducible, and ideally will furnish answers for the clinician questions not in a binary "black or white" manner, but with graduations, so if possible it has to be quantitative. The present paper aim to focus on the current clinical applications of tissue Doppler and of left atrial function and remodeling, and its pathophysiologic relationship with the left ventricle, as will be cleared in the documented review of echocardiography that follows, considering that the need of universal data on the syndrome of the failing heart does not mean, unfortunately, that all patients and clinicians in developing countries have at their own health facilities the same imaging tools, since they are, as a general rule, expensive