Primary research
Association of genome variations in the renin-angiotensin system with physical performance
1 School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Patras, 262 22, Greece
2 Laboratory of General Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Patras, Patras, 265 04, Greece
3 Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Patras, 265 04, Greece
Human Genomics 2012, 6:24 doi:10.1186/1479-7364-6-24
Published: 24 November 2012Abstract
Background
The aim of this study was to determine the genotype distribution and allelic frequencies of ACE (I/D), AGTR1 (A +1166 C), BDKRB2 (+9/−9) and LEP (G–2548A) genomic variations in 175 Greek athletes who excelled at a national and/or international level and 169 healthy Greek adults to identify whether some particular combinations of these loci might serve as predictive markers for superior physical condition.
Results
The D/D genotype of the ACE gene (p = 0.034) combined with the simultaneous existence of BDKRB2 (+9/−9) (p = 0.001) or LEP (G/A) (p = 0.021) genotypes was the most prevalent among female athletes compared to female controls. A statistical trend was also observed in BDKRB2 (+9/−9) and LEP (G–2548A) heterozygous genotypes among male and female Greek athletes, and in ACE (I/D) only in male athletes. Finally, both male and female athletes showed the highest rates in the AGTR1 (A/A) genotype.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that the co-existence of ACE (D/D), BDKRB2 (+9/−9) or LEP (G/A) genotypes in female athletes might be correlated with a superior level of physical performance.
