ABSTRACT
The aim of the study was to identify genetic variants associated with personal best scores in Turkish track and field athletes and to compare allelic frequencies between sprint/power and endurance athletes and controls using a whole-exome sequencing (WES) approach, followed by replication studies in independent cohorts. The discovery phase involved 60 elite Turkish athletes (31 sprint/power and 29 endurance) and 20 ethnically matched controls. The replication phase involved 1132 individuals (115 elite Russian sprinters, 373 elite Russian endurance athletes (of which 75 athletes were with VO2max measurements), 209 controls, 148 Russian and 287 Finnish individuals with muscle fiber composition and cross-sectional area (CSA) data). None of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reached an exome-wide significance level (p < 2.3 × 10-7) in genotype-phenotype and case-control studies of Turkish athletes. However, of the 53 nominally (p < 0.05) associated SNPs, four functional variants were replicated. The SIRT1 rs41299232 G allele was significantly over-represented in Turkish (p = 0.047) and Russian (p = 0.018) endurance athletes compared to sprint/power athletes and was associated with increased VO2max (p = 0.037) and a greater proportion of slow-twitch muscle fibers (p = 0.035). The NUP210 rs2280084 A allele was significantly over-represented in Turkish (p = 0.044) and Russian (p = 0.012) endurance athletes compared to sprint/power athletes. The TRPM2 rs1785440 G allele was significantly over-represented in Turkish endurance athletes compared to sprint/power athletes (p = 0.034) and was associated with increased VO2max (p = 0.008). The AGRN rs4074992 C allele was significantly over-represented in Turkish sprint/power athletes compared to endurance athletes (p = 0.037) and was associated with a greater CSA of fast-twitch muscle fibers (p = 0.024). In conclusion, we present the first WES study of athletes showing that this approach can be used to identify novel genetic markers associated with exercise- and sport-related phenotypes.
Subject(s)
Exome , Track and Field , Humans , Exome/genetics , Genotype , Gene Frequency , AthletesABSTRACT
The obesity epidemic among young people can be tackled through regular physical activity. For this purpose, we developed and implemented a physical activity programme (PAP) that we carried out in students' free time during the school year 2018-2019. The target group consisted of 79 students with excess weight, aged between 12 and 15 years, selected from an initial sample of 495 students from 5 pre-university education units located in an urban area. That group followed a differentiated PAP for 26 weeks. The impact of the programme highlighted the following points: the average physical activity/week for the entire sample of subjects was 3.67 physical activities, with an allocated time/week ranging from 1 h 30 min to 3 h; in terms of effort intensity, 7.70% of the activities were performed at low intensity, 75.07% at medium intensity and 17.23% at submaximal intensity. At the end of the programme, out of 79 subjects who were overweight/obese at the initial testing, 37 improved their body composition at the final testing, with a healthy BMI. It was also found that there is a negative correlation coefficient (r = -0.23) between the time spent performing physical activities and the BMI of the subjects.
ABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.550952.].
