Pickering, C, Suraci, B, Semenova, EA, Boulygina, EA, Kostryukova, ES, Kulemin, NA, Borisov, OV, Khabibova, SA, Larin, AK, Pavlenko, AV, Lyubaeva, EV, Popov, DV, Lysenko, EA, Vepkhvadze, TF, Lednev, EM, Leońska-Duniec, A, Pająk, B, Chycki, J, Moska, W, Lulińska-Kuklik, E, Dornowski, M, Maszczyk, A, Bradley, B, Kana-ah, A, Cięszczyk, P, Generozov, EV, and Ahmetov, II. A genome-wide association study of sprint performance in elite youth football players. J Strength Cond Res 33(9): 2344–2351, 2019—Sprint speed is an important component of football performance, with teams often placing a high value on sprint and acceleration ability. The aim of this study was to undertake the first genome-wide association study to identify genetic variants associated with sprint test performance in elite youth football players and to further validate the obtained results in additional studies. Using micro-array data (600 K–1.14 M single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) of 1,206 subjects, we identified 12 SNPs with suggestive significance after passing replication criteria. The polymorphism rs55743914 located in the PTPRK gene was found as the most significant for 5-m sprint test (p = 7.7 × 10−7). Seven of the discovered SNPs were also associated with sprint test performance in a cohort of 126 Polish women, and 4 were associated with power athlete status in a cohort of 399 elite Russian athletes. Six SNPs were associated with muscle fiber type in a cohort of 96 Russian subjects. We also examined genotype distributions and possible associations for 16 SNPs previously linked with sprint performance. Four SNPs (AGT rs699, HSD17B14 rs7247312, IGF2 rs680, and IL6 rs1800795) were associated with sprint test performance in this cohort. In addition, the G alleles of 2 SNPs in ADRB2 (rs1042713 & rs1042714) were significantly over-represented in these players compared with British and European controls. These results suggest that there is a genetic influence on sprint test performance in footballers, and identifies some of the genetic variants that help explain this influence.
1School of Sport and Wellbeing, Institute of Coaching and Performance, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom;
2Prenetics DNAFit Research Center, London, United Kingdom;
3Academy Coaching Department, AFC Bournemouth, Bournemouth, United Kingdom;
4Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Federal Research and Clinical Center of Physical-Chemical Medicine of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Moscow, Russia;
5Department of Biochemistry, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia;
6Omics Technologies OpenLab, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia;
7Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Moscow, Russia;
8Laboratory of Exercise Physiology, Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia;
9Faculty of Physical Education, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland;
10Independent Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Kaczkowski Military Institute of Hygiene Epidemiology, Poland;
11Department of Sports Training, Academy of Physical Education, Katowice, Poland;
12Faculty of Tourism and Recreation, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland;
13Department of Theory and Practice of Sport, Academy of Physical Education in Katowice; Poland;
14Academy Sports Science Department, AFC Bournemouth, Bournemouth, United Kingdom;
15Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Kazan State Medical University, Kazan, Russia; and
16Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Address correspondence to Craig Pickering, craig@dnafit.com.
