OBJECTIVETo investigate the associations between angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) related cough and ACE I/D and bradykinin beta(2) receptor (BDKRB2) C/T polymorphism.

METHODSA case-control study, nested in a 3-year community-based postmarketing surveillance of benazepril in 1 831 Chinese hypertensives was carried out. Three hundred and fifty-one cases having suffered benazepril related cough were identified and genotyped. Genotyped controls were selected through a stratified sampling design by age, sex and kidney function status.

RESULTSThe allele frequencies in cases were I 65.4%, D 34.6% and T 53.0%, C 47.0% and the genotype frequencies were II 42.2%, ID 46.4%, DD 11.4% (ACE) and CC 21.6%, CT 50.9%, TT 27.6% (BDKRB2), respectively. Genotype frequencies were both in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. According to stratified analyses by sex, kidney function status and age, no association was found between BDKRB2 C/T polymorphism and cough. For ACE I/D polymorphism, in men with decompensated kidney function, patients with ID or DD genotype having 4.805 times the risk of those with II genotype in developing cough. In women aged 35 to 49 years with normal or compensated kidney function, the OR of DD genotype was 5.128. No associations were detected in other subgroups.

CONCLUSIONIt was suggested that kidney function status and some specific characteristics surrogated by age and sex had modified the effect of ACE I/D variant on cough.