Association of Genetic Variances in ADRB1 and PPARGC1a with Two-Kilometre Running Time-Trial Performance in Australian Football League Players: A Preliminary Study

Genetic Determinants of Endurance: A Narrative Review on Elite Athlete Status and Performance

This narrative review explores the relationship between genetics and elite endurance athletes, summarizes the current literature, highlights some novel findings, and provides a physiological basis for understanding the mechanistic effects of genetics in sport. Key genetic markers include ACTN3 R577X (muscle fiber composition), ACE I/D (cardiovascular efficiency), and polymorphisms in PPARA, VEGFA, and ADRB2, influencing energy metabolism, angiogenesis, and cardiovascular function. This review underscores the benefits of a multi-omics approach to better understand the complex interactions between genetic polymorphisms and physiological traits. It also addresses long-standing issues such as small sample sizes in studies and the heterogeneity in heritability estimates influenced by factors like sex. Understanding the mechanistic relationship between genetics and endurance performance can lead to personalized training strategies, injury prevention, and improved health outcomes. Future studies should focus on standardized classification of sports, replication studies involving diverse populations, and establishing solid physiological associations between polymorphisms and endurance traits to advance the field of sports genetics.

Genetic Variants within NOGGIN, COL1A1, COL5A1, and IGF2 are Associated with Musculoskeletal Injuries in Elite Male Australian Football League Players: A Preliminary Study

INTRODUCTION

Australian Football is a dynamic team sport that requires many athletic traits to succeed. Due to this combination of traits, as well as technical skill and physicality, there are many types of injuries that could occur. Injuries are not only a hindrance to the individual player, but to the team as a whole. Many strength and conditioning personnel strive to minimise injuries to players to accomplish team success.

PURPOSE

To investigate whether selected polymorphisms have an association with injury occurrence in elite male Australian Football players.

METHODS

Using DNA obtained from 46 elite male players, we investigated the associations of injury-related polymorphisms across multiple genes (ACTN3, CCL2, COL1A1, COL5A1, COL12A1, EMILIN1, IGF2, NOGGIN, SMAD6) with injury incidence, severity, type (contact and non-contact), and tissue (muscle, bone, tendon, ligament) over 7 years in one Australian Football League team.

RESULTS

A significant association was observed between the rs1372857 variant in NOGGIN (p = 0.023) and the number of total muscle injuries, with carriers of the GG genotype having a higher estimated number of injuries, and moderate, or combined moderate and high severity rated total muscle injuries. The COL5A1 rs12722TT genotype also had a significant association (p = 0.028) with the number of total muscle injuries. The COL5A1 variant also had a significant association with contact bone injuries (p = 0.030), with a significant association being found with moderate rated injuries. The IGF2 rs3213221-CC variant was significantly associated with a higher estimated number of contact tendon injuries per game (p = 0.028), while a higher estimated number of total ligament (p = 0.019) and non-contact ligament (p = 0.002) injuries per game were significantly associated with carriage of the COL1A1 rs1800012-TT genotype.

CONCLUSIONS

Our preliminary study is the first to examine associations between genetic variants and injury in Australian Football. NOGGIN rs1372857-GG, COL5A1 rs12722-TT, IGF2 rs3213221-CC, and COL1A1 rs1800012-TT genotypes held various associations with muscle-, bone-, tendon- and ligament-related injuries of differing severities. To further increase our understanding of these, and other, genetic variant associations with injury, competition-wide AFL studies that use more players and a larger array of gene candidates is essential.