Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) details

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) plays a normal role in regulating blood pressure, but as a blood test it's used for a different purpose: to help support a diagnosis of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that can affect the lungs, skin, eyes, and other organs. In sarcoidosis, inflammatory cells called granulomas produce extra ACE, which can push blood levels above normal, though this isn't seen in every case. Because ACE can also be mildly elevated in other conditions and can be normal even in confirmed sarcoidosis, it's used as a supporting piece of evidence — often to help monitor disease activity over time — rather than as a definitive diagnostic test on its own.