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(Stroke. 1996;27:435-440.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.


Articles

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism and Cerebrovascular Disease

Andrew Catto, BSc, MRCP; Angela M. Carter, BSc; Jennifer H. Barrett, PhD; Max Stickland, HND; John Bamford, MD, FRCP; J. Andrew Davies, MD, FRCP Peter J. Grant, MD, FRCP

From the Diabetes and Thrombosis Research Group, Division of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary; and the Department of Neurology, St James's University Hospital (J. Bamford), Leeds, UK.

Correspondence to Dr A. Catto, Diabetes and Thrombosis Research Group, Division of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, LS1 3EX, UK. E-mail andrewc@pathology.leeds.ac.uk.


*    Abstract
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*Abstract
down arrowIntroduction
down arrowSubjects and Methods
down arrowResults
down arrowDiscussion
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Background and Purpose There is evidence that an allelic variation in the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene may confer an increased risk of vascular disease. The roles of the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism and circulating ACE levels are unknown in cerebrovascular disease.

Methods We studied an insertion/deletion polymorphism within intron 16 of the ACE gene by polymerase chain reaction and plasma ACE activity in 467 cases of stroke, the pathological type of which was established by cranial CT, and 231 control subjects. ACE genotype and activity were related to stroke type and mortality at 4 weeks and 3 months.

Results No difference in genotype frequency was observed between all subjects with stroke and control subjects or between control subjects and subjects with cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage. Plasma ACE activity was significantly lower in stroke patients at presentation (64.1 IU/L) than in control subjects (79.6 IU/L; P<.0001). Twenty-one patients (4.5%) with cerebral infarction died within 4 weeks and 56 patients (12%) within 3 months. These patients had significantly lower plasma ACE activity than patients who survived. There was some evidence that risk of death within 4 weeks increased with the number of D alleles (P=.02). Among survivors, plasma ACE activity showed a mean increase of 6.9 IU/L (95% confidence interval, 3.0 to 10.8) between levels at presentation and at 3 months (73.6 IU/L), the latter being similar to ACE activity in control subjects.

Conclusions Low ACE activity at stroke presentation and possession of the D allele may be associated with increased risk of early death from acute cerebral infarction.


Key Words: cerebrovascular disorders • genetics • mortality • angiotensin-converting enzymes


*    Introduction
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
*Introduction
down arrowSubjects and Methods
down arrowResults
down arrowDiscussion
down arrowReferences
 
Angiotensin-converting enzyme is a dipeptidyl carboxylase that activates angiotensin I through cleavage of the carboxyterminal dipeptide. ACE metabolizes the vasoactive peptides angiotensin II and bradykinin, which are mediators of vascular tone and smooth muscle cell proliferation.1 Experimental data suggest that in the presence of high levels of plasma ACE, opposing effects of these peptides result in vascular wall thickening and contribute to the development of vascular disease.2

In vitro autoradiography and immunohistochemical studies have mapped ACE within the brain,3 with high concentrations of ACE being found in the nigrostriatal pathway and basal ganglia.4 The major sources of circulating ACE are endothelial cells, although tissue ACE, as opposed to circulating plasma ACE, might contribute to vasoactive peptide metabolism. Plasma ACE activity shows considerable interindividual variation, although intraindividual variations are small.5 No environmental mediators of circulating ACE are recognized, although certain disease states are associated with elevated ACE activity. The Etude Cas-Temoins sur l'Infarctus du Myocarde (ECTIM) study data suggested that elevated ACE activity among younger subjects was associated with a higher risk of myocardial infarction.6 In stroke, ACE activity has not been described in either cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage, and no measurements have been made of ACE activity in the acute and convalescent phases of stroke. The contribution of ACE activity to the development of cerebrovascular disease remains undetermined.

Cloning of the human ACE gene allowed the detection of a polymorphism, which consists of the presence (insertion, I) or absence (deletion, D) of a 250-bp fragment.7 The DD genotype has been associated with a number of cardiovascular diseases. Cambien and coworkers8 demonstrated an excess of the DD genotype in subjects regarded as being at low risk for myocardial infarction. The genotype has also been described in subjects with dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathy9 and in association with elevated fasting glucose.10 In Western populations, ACE genotype has not been shown to be related to the development of human hypertension,11 although early animal studies in stroke-prone hypertensive rats showed an association with the ACE locus.12 Recently the DD genotype has been linked with the development of left ventricular hypertrophy,13 although this association has been disputed.14 Any possible association of the ACE genotype with stroke pathogenesis would be important, particularly since hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke, second only to advancing age. It is important to recognize that any study must attempt to deal with the lack of pathological homogeneity underlying "stroke." In this study subjects were classified by CT into infarct or hemorrhage groups. Subjects with infarction were then subclassified by standard criteria into those in whom intrinsic small-vessel disease was the most likely etiologic mechanism (LACI) and others in whom larger-vessel disease (either precerebral, aortic, or cardiac) was the most likely mechanism.

The primary aims of this study were to determine the frequency of certain ACE genotypes among subjects with the phenotypes cerebral infarction and PICH and to determine ACE activity at the time of acute stroke and after 3 months. The secondary aim was to determine the relationships between ACE genotype, ACE activity, and mortality after 4 weeks (early) and 3 months.


*    Subjects and Methods
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up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
*Subjects and Methods
down arrowResults
down arrowDiscussion
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Subjects
We studied 499 white patients presenting with acute stroke as defined by the World Health Organization15 (but excluding patients with primary subarachnoid hemorrhage) who were inpatients in any one of four acute-care hospitals in Leeds. The patients normally resided within the boundary of the Leeds Family Health Services Authority and were part of a cohort study examining the role of genotypes and hemostatic factors in the development of cerebrovascular disease. Informed consent was obtained from the case and control subjects, according to a protocol approved by the hospitals' Research Ethics Committees. A detailed clinical questionnaire, including information on vascular risk factors, and a physical examination were completed by a single examiner (A.C.) for each case. Data were validated with reference to hospital case notes, primary care records, and dialogue with family members. The presence of hypertension was defined as preadmission blood pressures of 160/95 mm Hg or greater as recorded in the primary care record. A history of ischemic heart disease was assessed with the use of the Rose questionnaire16 and with reference to previous electrocardiograms and laboratory data. A history of peripheral vascular disease was established by clinical examination, prior angiographic studies, and/or evidence of vascular surgery. Gout was diagnosed on clinical grounds with reference to primary care records. Current and previous smoking habits were recorded.

Noncontrast cranial CT was performed for each patient to determine the stroke phenotype (infarction or hemorrhage). Cases of cerebral infarction were subclassifed independently and without knowledge of cranial CT result by two of us (J.B. and A.C.) according to the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project classification17 into those with probable small-vessel disease (LACI), those with probable large-vessel disease (TACI or PACI), and those with PICH. Results of admission chest radiography and electrocardiograms were noted.

Uncuffed venous blood samples were drawn from each subject within 10 days (mean, 2 days) of the stroke onset for extraction of DNA and plasma ACE activity estimation. We did not measure ACE activity in the first 114 subjects. Plasma ACE activity was reestimated 3 months later at a follow-up visit. When samples were not obtained at follow-up, this was the result of changed domicile, address not traced, or failed blood sampling. All cases were "flagged" at study entry and their National Health Service number verified on the Leeds Family Health Services Authority database. Deaths were notified by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.

White control subjects of European descent were randomly selected from general practice registers from the same geographic locality as the case subjects. Control subjects were healthy and believed free of significant vascular disease. Control subjects received a standard invitation by mail to collaborate, 62% of whom agreed to take part. Basic demographic data were completed for each subject and are shown in Table 1Down. Venous blood samples were treated in a manner similar to that used for the case subjects.


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Table 1. Characteristics of Patients and Control Subjects Studied

Laboratory Techniques
Leukocyte DNA was extracted from 10 mL of venous blood, anticoagulated with 1.6 mg/mL EDTA, by a detergent/salt exchange method, as described previously.18 The ACE I/D polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction, according to the presence or absence of an insertion in intron 16. Polymerase chain reaction products (490-bp insertion and 190-bp deletion) were separated by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, stained with ethidium bromide, and viewed with UV light. Samples were genotyped without reference to clinical data. We verified all samples with the DD genotype by means of a second insertion-specific amplification (5'-TTTGAGACGGAGTCTCGCTC -3').19 Two patients were reassigned to an I/D genotype as a result of this procedure. Plasma ACE activity was estimated with the use of 5 mL venous blood anticoagulated with lithium heparin, according to an in-house analysis, against commercially available standard samples of known ACE activity. Samples for ACE activity were centrifuged at room temperature, plasma separated into cryotubes, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at -40°C. ACE activity was determined by an automated method, in which hydrolysis by ACE of a synthetic Tris-buffered substrate, furanocrylol-1-phenylalanyl-glycylglycine (Sigma Chemical Co), produced a furanocrylol-blocked amino acid and dipeptide. The decrease in absorbance at 340 nm was a measure of ACE activity, expressed as international units per liter.

Statistical Methods
Case and control genotype frequencies were compared by {chi}2 testing. Initial and 3-month ACE activity levels in patients were compared with levels in control subjects with the use of z tests. Initial and 3-month levels in patients were compared by paired t test. ACE activity in stroke patients on an ACE inhibitor were compared with those not on an ACE inhibitor by Mann-Whitney U test. Stroke subtypes and ACE levels were compared with the use of one-way ANOVA with Scheffé's post hoc comparison. The effects of ACE genotype and other factors and covariates on ACE levels were analyzed in a general linear model with the SAS General Linear Model procedure. A logistic regression model was used to study the relationship between mortality, genotype, and ACE activity.


*    Results
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up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowSubjects and Methods
*Results
down arrowDiscussion
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Patients and Control Subjects
A total of 467 patients were included in the analysis; 236 patients (50.5%) were female. The stroke was due to cerebral infarction in 418 patients (89.5%) (23 of whom had undergone hemorrhagic transformation at the time of cranial CT scan), and 49 (10.5%) were due to PICH. Details of the patients studied are shown in Table 1Up. Thirty-six stroke patients (7.7%) were being treated with an ACE inhibitor at the time the acute sample was taken.

Samples were obtained from 231 control subjects, of whom 124 were female (53.7%). The median age was 72.5 years (range, 20 to 90 years). ACE levels were measured in 209 control subjects, of whom 6 were on ACE inhibitor therapy. At the time of the analysis, 96 patients had died, 70 within 3 months of admission.

Genotype Frequencies
Genotypes were not available in 13 case and 16 control subjects as a result of failed polymerase chain reaction. The distribution of ACE genotypes in 454 patients with stroke were as follows: II, 128 (28%); ID, 200 (44%); and DD, 126 (28%), which was not significantly different from the distribution in 215 control subjects: II, 50 (23.2%); ID, 102 (47.4%); and DD, 63 (29.3%) ({chi}2=1.83, 2 df, P=.40). The patient genotype distribution was not, however, in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P<.02). There was no difference in the frequency of each genotype when we compared subjects with cerebral infarction (n=406; II, 28%; ID, 44%; and DD, 28%) with those with intracerebral hemorrhage (n=48; II, 35.4%; ID, 43.8%; and DD, 20.8%) ({chi}2=1.92, 2 df, P=.38). No difference was observed when the frequency of those with probable small-vessel disease (LACI, n=130) was compared with those with probable large-vessel disease (TACI/PACI, n=242) ({chi}2=0.53, 2 df, P=.77). Genotype frequencies by stroke type are presented in Table 2Down. When case subjects with a previous history of cerebrovascular disease including transient cerebral ischemia and completed stroke (n=130) were compared with those without a history, there was no difference in genotype frequency (II, 29.2%; ID, 43.9%; and DD, 26.9% versus II, 27.1%; ID, 45.5%; and DD, 27.4%, respectively) ({chi}2=0.22, 2 df, P=.90). We found no relationship with age at first stroke by ACE genotype (II, 70.4 years; ID, 70.9 years; and DD, 70.8 years) (P=.94).


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Table 2. Distribution of ACE Genotypes and Initial Plasma ACE Activity by Stroke Type

ACE Activity
The initial ACE level in patients taking an ACE inhibitor (n=36) was significantly lower (36.5 IU/L; SD, 34.6) than in those not on an ACE inhibitor (64.1 IU/L; SD, 24.3) (P=.0001). At 3 months after stroke the relationship persisted. In those still treated with an ACE inhibitor (n=14), the level had risen to 51.1 IU/L (SD, 40.6) compared with 73.6 IU/L for those untreated (n=149) (P=.02). Subjects treated with an ACE inhibitor were excluded from further analysis. Initial ACE activity (n=302) was significantly lower in patients (64.1 IU/L) than in control subjects (n=209) (79.6 IU/L) (P<.0001), although after 3 months (n=149) the values were similar in patients (73.6 IU/L) and control subjects (P=.08). In the 149 case subjects who survived for 3 months, there was a mean increase in ACE level of 6.9 IU/L (95% confidence interval, 3.0 to 10.8). There was a significant correlation between initial and 3-month ACE activity (r=.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.72). We compared ACE activity between cases of PICH, LACI, TACI, and PACI. Only patients with PICH had a significantly lower level of ACE activity compared with ACE activity in patients with LACI (P=.03), although there was a trend to lower levels in subjects with cortical infarction. However, at 3 months there was no significant difference in ACE activity between these groups.

The relationship between genotype and ACE activity at presentation in case and control subjects was studied. Initial levels were compared with control levels by including the patient/control group as a term in a general linear model, in which ACE levels were the dependent variable. Other terms in the model were genotype, age, sex, and group/genotype interaction. ACE genotype (P=.0001), group (P=.0001), and the interaction term (P=.007) were all significantly associated with plasma ACE activity. After the other variables were accounted for, age and sex were not significantly associated. The interaction term indicates that the relationship between levels and genotype differs between patients and control subjects, which can be seen in Table 3Down. Differences between patients and control subjects were apparent only for the ID and DD genotypes.


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Table 3. Mean Plasma ACE Activity (SD) in Relation to Genotype in 293 Patients and 180 Control Subjects

Among stroke patients, 10.7% of the variance of initial ACE activity and 14.5% at 3 months were attributable to the ID polymorphism, compared with an estimate of 22.0% of the variance among control subjects. In patients, the relationships between ACE activity and each of the vascular risk factors (ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, vascular disease, a history of gout, and previous or current smoking) were investigated with the use of ANOVA. Genotype, age, and sex were included as covariates. There was no evidence of a relationship with any of the other factors, in particular with ischemic heart disease or diabetes mellitus. No relationship was found with hypertension.

Effect of ACE Genotype and ACE Activity on Stroke Mortality
Seventy patients (15%) had died within 3 months of admission. Logistic regression was applied to assess the effect of age, ACE level, and genotype on the risk of death during the first 3 months. Since ACE levels were not available for all cases, the sample was reduced to 36 deaths and 257 survivors. In the 35 patients with cerebral infarction, initial mean ACE activity was related to total mortality (ACE activity, 55.0 IU/L in those who had died by 3 months after stroke and 65.7 IU/L in those who survived; P=.02 in the logistic model). The 3-month mortality was not significantly related to ACE genotype (P=.13).

Deaths occurring within 4 weeks are more likely to result directly from the acute stroke. Only 21 such deaths were recorded among patients with cerebral infarction, with ACE levels available in 13 of these. Logistic regression modeling showed that genotype was associated with increased risk of early death (P=.02), the risk increasing with the number of D alleles carried. Initial ACE activity was also weakly associated with 4-week mortality (P=.06). Values for mean initial ACE activity in those dying by 4 weeks in each group are given in Table 4Down. When all 21 subjects were considered, the frequencies of the genotypes were as follows: II, 4; ID, 8; and DD, 9, which did not differ significantly from those of survivors.


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Table 4. ACE Activity in Relation to Genotype In Patients Who Died Compared With Those Who Survived the First 4 Weeks After Stroke


*    Discussion
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up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowSubjects and Methods
up arrowResults
*Discussion
down arrowReferences
 
The data from this study relate ACE genotype and plasma ACE activity in patients with stroke to the values found in a healthy community control group, free of clinically apparent cerebrovascular disease. Some of the case subjects were treated with ACE inhibitors. In most studies, chronic ACE inhibitor treatment has been associated with elevated ACE activity.20 21 In our study, 36 case subjects treated with ACE inhibitors showed significantly lower ACE activity than those not on an ACE inhibitor. Our data are in contrast with the findings of higher ACE activity in treated CAD patients6 and might have implications for the efficacy of ACE inhibitors in the primary and secondary prevention of stroke in hypertensive patients.

Levels of ACE activity were significantly lower during the acute phase of stroke but were similar to levels of control activity after 3 months. This observation is not solely due to differences in initial ACE levels between survivors and those who died, since a mean increase of 6.9 IU/L was observed in those who survived. This suggests that reduced ACE activity may be a feature of the acute event, although ACE has not previously been reported in the acute phase of cerebral infarction.22 There was no difference in ACE activity between patients with cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage, which supports a nonspecific reduction in ACE activity. This view is further supported by the low levels of ACE activity in patients who died; one explanation for this is that extent of stroke is related to both mortality and depression of ACE levels. Although levels of ACE activity were lower in those with cortical strokes, this did not reach statistical significance (lower initial levels were, however, seen in subjects with PICH). Lower levels appear to be a feature of a "more severe" stroke occurring in cortical infarction and PICH as opposed to LACI.

The regulation of plasma and endothelial ACE activity is complex, with possible differences in the coronary and cerebral circulations, which may in part depend on the extent of atheroma. Furthermore, plasma ACE activity may be unrelated to intracerebral ACE activity. Although ACE has been mapped to the nigrostriatal pathway and basal ganglia,4 the role of ACE as either a direct mediator of or responder to acute cerebrovascular events is unclear. Substance P, a peptide implicated in the inflammatory response, is a substrate for ACE. Substance P has been found in intracerebral tissues and the vascular endothelium, which suggests a role in endothelial metabolism and vascular tone. ACE activity in cerebrovascular disease has not previously received much attention,23 although a recent investigation of carotid wall thickening associated increased plasma ACE activity with more elevated carotid wall thickness.24 However, it is possible that low plasma ACE activity may have preceded the acute event and be a marker for stroke risk, although this could not be validated from our data. A prospective study would be required to verify such a hypothesis. We found no evidence of age-related changes in ACE activity, although a recent study found elevated plasma ACE levels in subjects younger than 55 years with CAD.6

CAD and cerebrovascular disease share similarities in their pathophysiology. As a result, an excess of either the D allele or DD genotype in patients with stroke might have been expected, in keeping with the findings of Cambien et al8 in patients with myocardial infarction, although there is no obvious support to date for an association between the D allele and CAD (as opposed to myocardial infarction). In this population, there was no significant difference in genotype distribution between control and stroke groups, nor was any excess of the D allele observed in those with a history of stroke. We noted a deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium among patient genotype frequencies. We could find no obvious explanation for this finding, although an association with selective survival in octogenarians has been reported with the ACE genotype.25 Our data were at variance with those of Markus et al,26 who observed an excess of the DD genotype in 18 cases of lacunar stroke. They studied a heterogeneous population of both patients with transient cerebral ischemia and patients with ischemic stroke referred for carotid duplex scanning. We used similar methods for determining lacunar syndromes, with the exception of carotid duplex scanning, and found no excess in 130 subjects with LACI.

A number of investigators have since questioned the excess of the DD genotype in subjects with CAD.27 28 Furthermore, in the prospective American Physicians Heart Study, the presence of the D allele conferred no appreciable increased risk of ischemic heart disease,29 although in a Japanese population30 and in the Caerphilly Heart Study31 an excess of the DD genotype was observed in patients with CAD. Ruiz et al32 also found a marked excess of DD genotype in non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus subjects with CAD. Among our subjects with a confirmed history of diabetes or CAD there was no excess of the D allele (data not shown). Contrary to previous data in subjects with essential hypertension,33 the I/D polymorphism was not associated with a history of hypertension in our subjects.

In this study ACE genotype was strongly associated with circulating ACE activity, which increased with possession of the D allele, a finding previously reported by others. We estimated that 10.7% of the variance in the initial ACE level and 14.5% at 3 months may be attributed to the I/D polymorphism, which was lower than the 22.0% of variance estimated for control subjects. This finding contrasts with the data of healthy subjects reported by Rigat et al,7 in which 47% of the variance resulted from the ACE I/D polymorphism. This suggests that factors other than the ACE I/D polymorphism are mediating ACE levels in our population.

Lower ACE activity within 10 days of the acute event was associated with a significantly increased risk of death over the following 3 months, independent of genotype. In an analysis of 4-week mortality, the risk of death rose progressively with possession of D alleles, and this association persisted when all 21 subjects were considered. From the design of this study we were unable to determine subjects who could not be included as a consequence of early death, since a local stroke register was not in place. Most deaths occurring before hospital admission are caused by PICH. It is unlikely then that the numbers of cortical infarcts were underrepresented in this study population. However, care should be taken in generalizing the findings of this hospital-based study to stroke occurring in the community.

Early stroke mortality is likely to be more directly related to the severity and extent of cerebral damage rather than the later complications of stroke such as bronchopneumonia or venous thrombosis. Although ACE activity was available in only 13 of the subjects who died within 4 weeks, early mortality was associated with lower ACE activity. The greater reduction of ACE activity in cases of PICH and TACI/PACI compared with LACI suggests a nonspecific depression related to stroke severity. Given that many of those with PICH will be due to hypertensive small-vessel disease (similar to that in LACI), we believe that this is further evidence that the fall in ACE is a nonspecific reflection of the severity of stroke. However, it is a potential pitfall for other researchers.

The results of this study demonstrate no relationship between the ACE I/D polymorphism and the development of cerebrovascular disease. Plasma ACE activity was reduced in association with acute stroke, and this was more marked in subjects with cortical infarction and PICH. A weak association was recorded between possession of the DD genotype and early mortality, as well as a trend to lower plasma ACE activity with risk of death. The mechanisms by which the D allele might act are at present speculative. It would seem likely that the relationship between ACE activity and mortality is an expression of the severity of the stroke. Prospective studies are required to evaluate this issue.


*    Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms
 
ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme
CAD = coronary artery disease
I/D = insertion/deletion
LACI = lacunar infarction
PACI = partial anterior circulation infarction
PICH = primary intracerebral hemorrhage
TACI = total anterior circulation infarction


*    Acknowledgments
 
This study and the work of the Diabetes and Thrombosis Research Group were generously supported by the Stroke Association and the Leeds General Infirmary Special Trustees.

Received June 29, 1995; revision received November 7, 1995; accepted November 27, 1995.


*    References
up arrowTop
up arrowAbstract
up arrowIntroduction
up arrowSubjects and Methods
up arrowResults
up arrowDiscussion
*References
 

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