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Human, Environmental & Exercise: The ACE deletion allele is associated with Israeli elite endurance athletes

Human, Environmental & Exercise: The ACE deletion allele is associated with Israeli elite endurance athletes
Human, Environmental & Exercise: The ACE deletion allele is associated with Israeli elite endurance athletes
An Alu insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in the angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been associated with ACE activity. Opposing effects on elite athletic performance have been proposed for the I and D alleles; while the D allele favours improved endurance ability, the I allele promotes more power-orientated events. We tested this hypothesis by determining the frequency of ACE ID alleles amongst 121 Israeli top-level athletes classified by their sporting discipline (marathon runners or sprinters). Genotyping for ACE ID was performed using polymerase chain reaction on DNA from leucocytes. The ACE genotype and allele frequencies were compared with those of 247 healthy individuals. Allele and genotype frequencies differed significantly between the groups. The frequency of the D allele was 0.77 in the marathon runners, 0.66 in the control subjects (P = 0.01) and 0.57 in the sprinters (P = 0.002). The ACE DD genotype was more prevalent among the endurance athletes (0.62) than among the control subjects (0.43, P = 0.004) and the power athletes (0.34, P = 0.004). In the group of elite athletes, the odds ratio of ACE DD genotype being an endurance athlete was 3.26 (95% confidence interval 1.49–7.11), and of ACE II genotype was 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.14–1.19). We conclude that in Israeli elite marathon runners the frequency of the ACE D allele and ACE DD genotype seems to be higher than in sprinters, suggesting a positive association between the D allele and the likelihood of being an elite endurance athlete in some ethnic groups.
0958-0670
881-886
Amir, Offer
c608fda3-3843-4af8-bd9e-c8e6f4e264af
Amir, Ruthie
5d89722b-d531-446c-aa68-5a2cd813d730
Yamin, Chen
716ad7f9-fb6b-46c1-aead-2ac042bbc119
Attias, Eric
abf34bba-f99f-47f9-ba89-92df1c488a5e
Eynon, Nir
74c1b131-74d3-41a3-9c95-4608d428123e
Sagiv, Moran
a468cdfd-92b9-487d-9521-05f045a46cd9
Sagiv, Michael
3a161d30-ca18-4b1b-9fca-c93989719af3
Meckel, Yoav
42cdbfc2-88ec-40ad-9717-f5bb8e2f9226
Amir, Offer
c608fda3-3843-4af8-bd9e-c8e6f4e264af
Amir, Ruthie
5d89722b-d531-446c-aa68-5a2cd813d730
Yamin, Chen
716ad7f9-fb6b-46c1-aead-2ac042bbc119
Attias, Eric
abf34bba-f99f-47f9-ba89-92df1c488a5e
Eynon, Nir
74c1b131-74d3-41a3-9c95-4608d428123e
Sagiv, Moran
a468cdfd-92b9-487d-9521-05f045a46cd9
Sagiv, Michael
3a161d30-ca18-4b1b-9fca-c93989719af3
Meckel, Yoav
42cdbfc2-88ec-40ad-9717-f5bb8e2f9226

Amir, Offer, Amir, Ruthie, Yamin, Chen, Attias, Eric, Eynon, Nir, Sagiv, Moran, Sagiv, Michael and Meckel, Yoav (2007) Human, Environmental & Exercise: The ACE deletion allele is associated with Israeli elite endurance athletes. Experimental Physiology, 92 (5), 881-886. (doi:10.1113/expphysiol.2007.038711).

Record type: Article

Abstract

An Alu insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in the angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been associated with ACE activity. Opposing effects on elite athletic performance have been proposed for the I and D alleles; while the D allele favours improved endurance ability, the I allele promotes more power-orientated events. We tested this hypothesis by determining the frequency of ACE ID alleles amongst 121 Israeli top-level athletes classified by their sporting discipline (marathon runners or sprinters). Genotyping for ACE ID was performed using polymerase chain reaction on DNA from leucocytes. The ACE genotype and allele frequencies were compared with those of 247 healthy individuals. Allele and genotype frequencies differed significantly between the groups. The frequency of the D allele was 0.77 in the marathon runners, 0.66 in the control subjects (P = 0.01) and 0.57 in the sprinters (P = 0.002). The ACE DD genotype was more prevalent among the endurance athletes (0.62) than among the control subjects (0.43, P = 0.004) and the power athletes (0.34, P = 0.004). In the group of elite athletes, the odds ratio of ACE DD genotype being an endurance athlete was 3.26 (95% confidence interval 1.49–7.11), and of ACE II genotype was 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.14–1.19). We conclude that in Israeli elite marathon runners the frequency of the ACE D allele and ACE DD genotype seems to be higher than in sprinters, suggesting a positive association between the D allele and the likelihood of being an elite endurance athlete in some ethnic groups.

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Published date: 2007
Organisations: Geology & Geophysics

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Local EPrints ID: 345599
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/345599
ISSN: 0958-0670
PURE UUID: 0fdf577a-7e8e-4727-be5d-4bf1f5584186

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Date deposited: 26 Nov 2012 14:57
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:26

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Contributors

Author: Offer Amir
Author: Ruthie Amir
Author: Chen Yamin
Author: Eric Attias
Author: Nir Eynon
Author: Moran Sagiv
Author: Michael Sagiv
Author: Yoav Meckel

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