Abstract
A large number of studies have shown that the EPAS1 gene may serve as a possible predictor of success in sports because of its influence on the processes of oxygen transportation and consumption. However, the data concerning the impact of EPAS1 polymorphisms on sports achievements in the contemporary research literature are very scarce and contradictory. The aim of the present paper is to study the genetic selection for the polymorphic system of the EPAS1 (rs1867785) gene in a group of male sambo practitioners. The study is carried out on 312 Russian males from 18 to 30 years of age, including 220 professional athletes and 92 non-athletes, who served as the control group. The genotype for a single-nucleotide G/A polymorphism of the EPAS1 gene is determined for each participant of the study. Analysis of the EPAS1 genotype frequencies revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups. The group of professional athletes exhibited an increase of the АА and AG genotype frequencies (χ2 = 8.68, p = 0.01). Thus, sambo wrestlers of high professional levels are characterized by having the minor А-allele of the EPAS1 gene in their genotypes. The odd ratio (OR) calculated for this group is 1.800 (95% CI 1.227–2.641), demonstrating that the carriers of the А-allele of the EPAS1 gene have some advantage over the carriers of the G-allele. OR for the highest ranked wrestlers is even higher, 1.990 (95% CI 1.195–3.313). These results suggest directed genetic selection in the А-allele carriers of the EPAS1 gene among sambo wrestlers.
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Original Russian Text © E.A. Bondareva, E.Z. Godina, 2016, published in Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genetiki i Selektsii, 2016, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 23–27.
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Bondareva, E.A., Godina, E.Z. Association of the EPAS1 gene G/A polymorphism with successful performance in a group of Russian wrestlers. Russ J Genet Appl Res 6, 793–797 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079059716080049
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079059716080049