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Meta-Analysis
. 2013;8(1):e54685.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054685. Epub 2013 Jan 24.

The association of sport performance with ACE and ACTN3 genetic polymorphisms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Fang Ma  1 , Yu Yang, Xiangwei Li, Feng Zhou, Cong Gao, Mufei Li, Lei Gao
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The association of sport performance with ACE and ACTN3 genetic polymorphisms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Fang Ma et al. PLoS One. 2013.

Abstract

Background: Genetic polymorphism is suggested to be associated with human physical performance. The angiotensin I-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (ACE I/D) polymorphism and the α-actinin-3 gene (ACTN3) R577X polymorphism have been most widely studied for such association analysis. However, the findings are frequently heterogeneous. We aim to summarize the associations of ACE I/D and ACTN3 R577X with sport performance by means of meta-analysis.

Methods: We systematically reviewed and quantitatively summarized published studies, until October 31, 2012, on relationship between ACE/ACTN3 genetic polymorphisms and sports performance, respectively.

Results: A total of 366 articles on ACE and 88 articles on ACTN3 were achieved by literature search. A significant association was found for ACE II genotype compared to D allele carriage (DD+ID) with increased possibility of physical performance (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.05-1.45). With respect to sport discipline, the II genotype was found to be associated with performance in endurance athletes (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.17-1.55). On the other hand, no significant association was observed for ACTN3 RR genotype as compared to X allele carriage (XX+RX) (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.92-1.15). However, when restricted the analyses to power events, a significant association was observed (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.03-1.42).

Conclusion: Our results provide more solid evidence for the associations between ACE II genotype and endurance events and between ACTN3 R allele and power events. The findings suggest that the genetic profiles might influence human physical performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow Diagram of study design.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Meta-analysis of the association between sport performance and ACE polymorphism (II vs. ID+DD).
Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio. *Different study population from the same article.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Meta-analysis of the association between sport performance and ACE polymorphism (II+ID vs. DD).
Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio. *Different study population from the same article.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Meta-analysis of the association between sport performance and ACTN3 polymorphism (RR vs. RX+XX).
Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio. *, **Different study population from the same article.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Meta-analysis of the association between sport performance and ACTN3 polymorphism (RR+RX vs. XX).
Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio. *Different study population from the same article.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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