The association of the ACTN3 R577X and ACE I/D polymorphisms with athlete status in football: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

The aim of this review was to assess the association of ACTN3 R577X and ACE I/D polymorphisms with athlete status in football and determine which allele and/or genotypes are most likely to influence this phenotype via a meta-analysis. A comprehensive search identified 17 ACTN3 and 19 ACE studies. Significant associations were shown between the presence of the ACTN3 R allele and professional footballer status (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.18–1.53) and the ACE D allele and youth footballers (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.01–1.38). More specifically, the ACTN3 RR genotype (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.23–1.77) and ACE DD genotype (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02–1.63) exhibited the strongest associations, respectively. These findings may be explained by the association of the ACTN3 RR genotype and ACE DD genotype with power-orientated phenotypes and the relative contribution of power-orientated phenotypes to success in football. As such, the results of this review provide further evidence that individual genetic variation may contribute towards athlete status and can differentiate athletes of different competitive playing statuses in a homogenous team-sport cohort. Moreover, the ACTN3 R577X and ACE I/D polymorphisms are likely (albeit relatively minor) contributing factors that influence athlete status in football.

KEYWORDS:

• Soccer
• team-Sport
• genetics
• SNP
• genomics

Acknowledgements

Not applicable

Author’s contributions

All authors contributed to the conception of the article. ABTM drafted the article and performed the literature search and analysis. All authors contributed to interpretation of the results and critically revised the work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

Alexander B. T. McAuley, David C. Hughes, Loukia G. Tsaprouni, Ian Varley, Bruce Suraci, Thomas R. Roos, Adam J. Herbert, and Adam L. Kelly declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1812195.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received in support of this manuscript.