β Blocker response may have gene link

Patients with congestive heart failure and who have a mutation in the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene are likely to respond especially well to b blockers, a new study has suggested (Circulation 2001;103: 1644-8).

The current findings relate to people with the mutation known as the ACE deletion (so called because it lacks a small piece of DNA found in the normal ACE gene). Activation of the renin-angiotensin system is known to adversely affect progression of heart failure. Although the ACE …