Hunting the risk NPY and ACE Polymorphisms as predictors of cardiovascular diseases: case report and review of the literature

Many research efforts were addressed to identify individuals at high risk for multifactorial diseases, such as cardiovascular alterations and related diseases. Great interest was paid to investigate the genetic liability in multifactorial illnesses. The prognosis of high-risk patients might be greatly ameliorated using genetic predisposition risk factors, such as the polymorphisms of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) genes. Epidemiologic results suggest that selected polymorphisms of both NPY and ACE might be helpful to improve the evaluation of patients, offering a powerful prognostic tool and paving the way to novel molecular therapeutic strategies. We present a case report of a male, sudden-death from myocardial infarction, presenting with left ventricular hypertrophy. The patient carried polymorphisms of ACE and NPY genes, respectively ACE genotype ID and NPY genotype T-399C, actually considered as risk factors.