Special Precautions/Comments:

Additional Information:

Measurement of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is used in the investigation and monitoring of sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is a rare, multisystem inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology which primarily presents as granulomas in the lung and lymph nodes.  

ACE is elevated in 50-80% of patients with active sarcoidosis. This is because epithelial cells surrounding granulomas produce increased amounts of ACE. However, ACE levels within the reference range cannot exclude sarcoidosis because levels are influenced by polymorphisms of the ACE gene. ACE may also be elevated in other diseases such as tuberculosis and Gaucher’s disease. Therefore, ACE alone should not be used for diagnosis of sarcoidosis.