| Summary: | Muscle injuries are among the main reasons for medical leavings of soccer athletes, being a major concern within professional teams and their prevention associated with sport success. Several factors are associated with a greater predisposition to injury, and genetic background is increasingly being investigated. The aim of this study was to analyze whether <i>ACTN3</i> R577X and <i>ACE</i> I/D polymorphisms are predictors of the incidence and severity of muscle injury in professional soccer athletes from Brazil, individually and in association. Eighty-three professional athletes from the first and second divisions of the Brazilian Championship were evaluated regarding the polymorphisms through blood samples. Nighty-nine muscle injuries were identified during the seasons of 2018, 2019 and 2020 and categorized according to severity. <i>ACTN3</i> XX individuals had a higher frequency of severe injuries compared to the RX and RR genotypes (<i>p</i> = 0.001), and in the dominant model (compared to RX+RR), with <i>p</i> < 0.001. The trend <i>p</i>-value test showed an increased number of injuries/season following the order XX > RX > RR (<i>p</i> = 0.045). Those with the <i>ACE</i> II genotype had almost 2 fold the number of injuries per season compared to those with the ID+DD genotypes (<i>p</i> = 0.03). Logistic regression showed that the polymorphisms are predictors of the development of severe injury (<i>ACTN3</i> R577X model with <i>p</i> = 0.004, R<sup>2</sup>: 0.259; <i>ACE</i> I/D model with <i>p</i> = 0.045, R<sup>2</sup>: 0.163), where <i>ACTN3</i> XX individuals were more likely to suffer from severe injury (OR: 5.141, 95% CI: 1.472–17.961, <i>p</i> = 0.010). The combination of the <i>ACTN3</i> 577X allele and the <i>ACE</i> II genotype showed an increased number of injuries per season, enhanced by 100% (1.682 injuries/season versus 0.868 injuries/season, <i>p</i> = 0.016). Our findings suggest that both polymorphisms <i>ACTN3</i> R577X and <i>ACE</i> I/D (and their interaction) are associated with the susceptibility and severity of non-contact muscle injury in soccer players.
|
|---|