An innovative way to highlight the power of each polymorphism on elite athletes phenotype expression

Anthropometric, body composition and physical performance of elite young Italian football players and differences between selected and unselected talents

Football is a team sport played worldwide and specific competition demands are needed since young categories. Several physiological and psychological aspects could influence the selection process, and adolescent investigations still be necessary. This retrospective study aims to compare anthropometric and performance features between selected and unselected adolescent footballers. The sample size was 78 players from U10 to U12 categories. Maturation, RAE, anthropometry, and physical performance (repeated sprint ability (RSA), 15-m sprint, countermovement jump (CMJ) and Harre's test) were evaluated (mean ± SD). 33.3 % of players were selected (height = 144.06 ± 6.74 cm, weight = 35.38 ± 4.56 kg) and 66.7 % were unselected (height = 143.06 ± 8.34 cm, weight = 35.94 ± 6.24 kg). Selected U10 were leaner and got the peak of height velocity (APHV) earlier (p < 0.05) than unselected U10 players, while U11 selected were faster than unselected (p < 0.05). Also, the RSA test, APHV and the humeral width well discriminated among the selection (χ 2 (3) = 12; p < 0.01). Football field technicians involved in scouting need quantitative and qualitative information that could help to predict talented players. Although physical performance test results and body height led to decisions, further anthropometric features and maturation could provide relevant support.

Employing emerging technologies such as motion capture to study the complex interplay between genotype and power-related performance traits

Exercise genomics has progressed alongside advancements in molecular genetic technologies that have enhanced our understanding of associations between genes and performance traits. This novel field of research incorporates techniques and tools from epidemiology, molecular genetics, exercise physiology and biostatistics to investigate the complex interplay between genotype and specific quantitative performance traits, such as muscle power output. Here I aimed to illustrate how interdisciplinary training can ensure the effective use of new emerging technologies, such as motion capture, to examine the influence of genetic and epigenetic factors on power-related quantitative performance traits. Furthermore, this study raises awareness about the present research trends in this field, and highlights current gaps and potential future developments. The acquired knowledge will likely have important future implications in the biotech industry, with a focus on gene therapy to combat age-related muscle power decline, personalized medicine and will drive advancements in exercise program design.

Translational mobility medicine and ugo carraro: a life of significant scientific contributions reviewed in celebration

Prof. Ugo Carraro reached 80 years of age on 23 February 2023, and we wish to celebrate him and his work by reviewing his lifetime of scientific achievements in Translational Myology. Currently, he is a Senior Scholar with the University of Padova, Italy, where, as a tenured faculty member, he founded the Interdepartmental Research Center of Myology. Prof. Carraro, a pioneer in skeletal muscle research, is a world-class expert in structural and molecular investigations of skeletal muscle biology, physiology, pathology, and care. An authority in bidimensional gel electrophoresis for myosin light chains, he was the first to separate mammalian muscle myosin heavy chain isoforms by SDS-gel electrophoresis. He has demonstrated that long-term denervated muscle can survive denervation by myofiber regeneration, and shown that an athletic lifestyle has beneficial impacts on muscle reinnervation. He has utilized his expertise in translational myology to develop and validate rehabilitative treatments for denervated and ageing skeletal muscle. He has authored more than 160 PubMed listed papers and numerous scholarly books, including his recent autobiography. Prof. Carraro founded and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Translational Myology and Mobility Medicine. He has organized more than 40 Padua Muscle Days Meetings and continues this, encouraging students and young scientists to participate. As he dreams endlessly, he is currently validating non-invasive analyses on saliva, a promising approach that will allow increased frequency sampling to analyze systemic factors during the transient effects of training and rehabilitation by his proposed Full-Body in- Bed Gym for bed-ridden elderly.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Soccer: Web of Science Bibliometric Analysis

According to the existing literature, there is growing interest in the sports industry by individuals involved in entrepreneurship and innovation. However, no bibliometric analyses on the importance of and interest that these individuals have in the football industry have been conducted. A total of 220 articles and reviews retrieved from Thomson Reuters Web of Science (Core Collection™) between 1997 and 2019 were analysed. These articles were published in 169 different journals by 609 authors from 340 different institutions in 46 countries. The following basic bibliometric analyses and co-occurrence networks were carried out: co-authorship and co-words. As a result, four clusters that summarise the following four different thematic areas were found: (1) football, entrepreneurship and social development, (2) football, innovation and management, (3) football, efficiency and new technology, and (4) football, injuries and innovation in rehabilitation. A thematic analysis of the four clusters found was carried out. Finally, practical implications and future lines of research were presented.

Relevance of lactate level detection in migrane and fibromyalgia

The aim of this study was to determine the blood lactate levels in healthy and pathological subjects, particularly with migraine and fibromyalgia. Moreover we investigated the possible correlation between lactate concentration, postural stability and balance disorders; the composition of the groups were: migraine (n = 25; age 49.7 ± 12.5), fibromyalgia (n = 10; age 43.7 ± 21.2), control group (n = 16 age 28.52 ± 2.4). The results showed that patients with fibromyalgia (FG) had higher lactate levels compared to migraine (MG) and control group (CG) (mean ± sd: FG = 1.78 ± 0.9 mmol/L; MG = 1.45±1 mmol/L; CG = 0,85 ± 0,07 mmol/L). The same situation was highlighted about the sway path length with eyes closed (FG = 518 ± 195 mm; MG = 465 ± 165 mm; CG = 405 ± 94,72 mm) and with eyes open (FG = 430 ± 220 mm; MG = 411 ± 143 mm; CG = 389 ± 107 mm). This can be explained by the fact that energy-intensive postural strategies must be used to optimize both static and dynamic coordination, in particular with repeated contractions of tonic oxidative muscle cells responsible for postural control.

Do ACE and CKMM gene variations have potent effects on physical performance in inactive male adolescents?

We studied to ascertain whether the ACE and/or CKMM genotypes independently influence the baseline level of some sport performances in 613 inactive male adolescents (mean ± SD age: 13.24 ± 0.28 years). All DNA samples were extracted and genotyped for ACE I/D and CKMM A/G polymorphisms using a PCR based procedure. One-way analysis of covariance was used to examine the discrepancies in the research phenotypes among various ACE and CKMM polymorphisms. The comparisons of genotype and allele frequencies between adolescents with the best and the worst performances were calculated and analyzed by the Chi square test. All procedures were approved by Medical University Ethics Committee. Written informed consent signed and approved by all subject`s parents were obtained. We observed the effect of the ACE and CKMM polymorphisms on VO_2max (P = 0.001 & P = 0.001 respectively). ACE and CKMM genotypes differed between groups (< 90th vs. ≥ 90) in the multi-stage 20 m shuttle run (P = 0.001 and 0.001). ACE allele frequencies differed between groups (< 90th vs. ≥ 90) in the multi-stage 20-m shuttle run (P = 0.001). This study suggests that the ACE and CKMM polymorphisms influence the endurance performance phenotype in non-trained adolescent males.

EJTM3 is also covering Mobility and Medicine at large, an update

Since the first 2018 issue, the European Journal of Translational Myology expanded its authorship and readership from the strict topics of biology, physiology, diagnostic, management and rehabilitation of skeletal muscle to the more clinically relevant fields of human mobility to those of general medicine. This third issue opens with a review on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a very complex medical problem, as its other names testify (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease). A more typical molecular myology original article follows (Increasing autophagy does not affect neurogenic muscle atrophy), but then several Rapid Reports cover different Medical Specialties fields, related or unrelated to neuromyology, mobility problems and their potential solutions. The Advisors of EJTM invite Authors to submit typescripts, taking into account that the journal is keen to publish high-level papers in the fields of Translational Myology, Mobility and Medicine at large.