Variation in the ACE, PPARGC1A and PPARA genes in Lithuanian football players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of ACE (I/D), PPARGC1A (G/A) and PPARA (G/C) polymorphisms on footballers performance among 199 Lithuanian professional footballers and 167 sedentary, healthy men (controls). Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods on DNA from leucocytes. Results revealed that the angiotensin-1-coverting enzyme gene (ACE) genotype distribution was significantly different between total football players group (II 23.6%, ID 46.7% and DD 29.6%) and the controls (II 24.6%, ID 29.9% and DD 45.5%; P=0.002). Although investigating PPARGC1A (G/A) and PPARA (G/C) polymorphisms no significant results were obtained in the total football players group, however, significant differences were determined between forwards and controls [PPARGC1A: GG 54.6%, GA 29.5%, AA 15.9% vs. GG 49.7%, GA 44.3% and AA 6.0% (P = 0.044); PPARA: GG 52.3%, GC 40.9%, CC 6.8% vs. GG 72.4%, GC 24.6% and CC 3.0% (P = 0.034)]. In the whole cohort, the odds ratio of the genotype [ACE ID + PPARA GG] being a footballer was 1.69 (95% CI 1.04-2.74), and of [ACE ID + PPARGC1A GG] 1.93 (95% CI 1.10-3.37) and of [ACE II + PPARA GC] 2.83 (95% CI 1.02-7.91) compared to controls. It was revealed that ACE ID genotype together with PPARA GG and PPARGC1A GG as well as ACE II genotype with PPARA GC is probably the 'preferable genotype' for footballers. Summing up, the present study suggests that the ACE, PPARGC1A and PPARA polymorphisms genotypes are associated, separately and in combination, with Lithuanian footballers' performance.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-I/D) polymorphism frequency in Brazilian soccer players

“…Our results (II = 17%; ID = 50%; e DD = 33%) are in agreement with previous studies (Gineviciene et al 2012;Juffer et al 2009) which found that the ACE-I/D genotype distribution of soccer players was similar to that of the general population, but they do not confirm the results by Massidda et al (2012), who reported that the frequency of the DD genotype was predominant in both athletes and controls.…”

“…Soccer is classified as an intermittent and highly intense activity (Coelho et al 2011) and therefore performance of soccer players is directly influenced by the power, speed and strength capacities of the players. Ahmetov et al (2008) suggested that there might be a natural selection for high performance sports, according to the predominance of aerobic or anaerobic capacities (power, speed, strength, endurance), while in soccer all these capacities combined may be responsible for the natural selection (Gineviciene et al 2012;Juffer et al 2009;Eynon et al 2014).…”

Effect of PPARGC1A Gly428Ser (rs8192678) polymorphism on athletic sports performance: A meta-analysis

“…Table 1 shows that participants in most of the studies were Euro-Slavic with three (Australia, Japan and Korea) contributing to geographical heterogeneity [30, 32, 38]. Subgroups by sport type and race comprised of power [26, 27, 29, 34, 35], endurance [25-27, 30, 31, 33-36, 38] and mixed [27, 28, 32, 34, 37], Caucasian [25-30, 33-37] and Asian [31, 32, 38], respectively. Median and range CB score of 7.0 (5-9) indicates that methodological quality of the component studies was high.…”

Relationship between ACTN3 and ACE polymorphisms and FIFA World averaged rating

“…Polymorphisms in α-actinin-3 (ACTN3) and angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) genes are associated with power and endurance abilities, respectively [3,4]. A premature stop codon SNP (p.Arg577Ter, rs1815739) in ACTN3 leads to a lower level of α-actinin-3.…”