Association of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme gene Polymorphism and Indian Army Triathletes Performance

PURPOSE: It is well known that the effects of exercise training gives inter individual differences which might be due to genetic diversity. This study aims to explore the probable relation between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) alleles and physical fitness parameters in elite athletes. METHODS: Twenty-nine national level Indian Army Triathletes who volunteered for the study were taken as subjects and 101 healthy age matched control group subjects were taken for comparison of genotype frequencies. The following parameters were checked in triathletes: blood pressure, body mass index, VO(2 max), muscular endurance, flexibility and power. DNA was extracted from blood using standard phenol-chloroform method. Genotyping was done using PCR specific for ACE (I/D) polymorphism, followed by agarose gel electrophoresis method. Variation of the parameters among different genotypes was compared. Genotype frequencies of triathletes were compared with the control group as well. RESULTS: No difference was observed between fitness parameters of three genotype groups’ triathletes, while the frequency of I allele was found to be very high in triathletes compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that there might be a positive association between I allele of ACE gene and endurance.