Genetic variants associated with physical and mental characteristics of the elite athletes in the Polish population

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess whether selected genetic variants are associated with elite athlete performance in a group of 413 elite athletes and 451 sedentary controls. Polymorphisms in ACE, ACTN3, AGT, NRF-2, PGC1A, PPARG, and TFAM implicated in physical performance traits were analyzed. Additionally, polymorphisms in CHRNB3 and FAAH coding for proteins modulating activity of brain's emotion centers were included. The results of univariate analyses indicated that the elite athletic performance is associated with four polymorphisms: ACE (rs4341, P = 0.0095), NRF-2 (rs12594956, P = 0.011), TFAM (rs2306604, P = 0.049), and FAAH (rs324420, P = 0.0041). The multivariate analysis adjusted for age and gender confirmed this association. The higher number of ACE D alleles (P = 0.0021) and the presence of NRF-2 rs12594956 A allele (P = 0.0067) are positive predictors, whereas TFAM rs2306604 GG genotype (P = 0.031) and FAAH rs324420 AA genotype (P = 0.0084) negatively affect the elite athletic performance. The CHRNB3 variant (rs4950, G allele) is significantly more frequent in the endurance athletes compared with the power ones (P = 0.025). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of rs4950 G allele contributes to endurance performance (P = 0.0047). Our results suggest that genetic inheritance of psychological traits should be taken into consideration while trying to decipher a genetic profile of top athletic performance.

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.…”

“…To approximate this level and still achieve enough studies, we selected those with at least 248 participants in either cases or controls for Gly allele comparison only. However, we also included five studies from four papers [25, 34, 35, 37] with > 248 participants both in cases and in controls which we termed “all > 80%”. Using the G*Power program [40], statistical powers in each of these three studies were calculated to range between 81.0% and 99.9% assuming an α level of 5%.…”

Association of Elite Sports Status with Gene Variants of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptors and Their Transcriptional Coactivator

“…The synthesis summarized three categories of sports disciplines by the dominant metabolic demand for the disciplines: strength and power oriented athletes, endurance oriented athletes, and mixed type of activity according to previous definitions [25,30,46], where team sports such as soccer or ice-hockey were considered as mixed strength-power and endurance disciplines.…”

Association of Monocarboxylate Transporter-1 (MCT1) A1470T Polymorphism (rs1049434) with Forward Football Player Status.

“…Athletic performance is one of the most complex human phenotypic traits influenced by anthropometric [30], psychological [35] and physiological properties [40], as well as by the training, nutrition and health status of the individual athlete [16]. It is assumed, however, that ath-letic performance variations among athletes are partly due to small contributions of hundreds of genes [8,37].…”