The College of Pharmacy discussed the PhD dissertation entitled “Association of Angiotensin-converting enzyme and Angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene polymorphism with response to treatment of DKD among Iraqi patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus” by the student Ansam Abdulameer Yahya and the supervisor, Assistant Professor Dr. Dheyaa Jabbar Kadhim, at the Clinical Pharmacy Department. The study aimed to assess the response to diabetic kidney disease (DKD) treatment using ACEIs and ARBs therapy according to ACE (I\D) and AGTR1 (A1166C) gene polymorphism among Iraqi patients with T2DM and determine the correlation between markers of renal impairment with these genetic variants. This case-control study included 161 T2DM hypertensive patients of either sex, divided into four groups according to DKD state and whether using ACEI or ARBs. Urinary albumin and creatinine were measured, then the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) was calculated, and the serum levels of cystatin-C (Cys-C), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), ACE1, and ACE2 were measured. Genomic DNA was extracted from leukocytes for the genetic evaluation of an ACE (I/D) and AGTR1 (A1166C) gene polymorphism.The study concluded that the ACE-DD genotype had a higher frequency in the DKD group. Also, DKD patients with the DD genotype had significantly higher serum KIM-1, Cys-C, and eGFR. Additionally, both ACE (I\D) and AGTR1 (A1166C) genes are significant predictors of serum ACE1 levels only in ACEIs users. Furthermore, the ACE ID genotype carriers and AC genotype carriers of AGTR1 (A1166C) had lower serum ACE1 and ACE2 levels with lower ACR and higher eGFR, indicating better ACEI responses in ID and AC carriers among ACEIs users.
