Abstract
Objective
The FTO A/T polymorphism (rs9939609) is a strong candidate to influence obesity-related traits. Elite athletes from many different sporting disciplines are characterized by low body fat. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether athletic status is associated with the FTO A/T polymorphism.
Subjects and Methods
A large cohort of European Caucasians from Poland, Russia and Spain were tested to examine the association between FTO A/T polymorphism (rs9939609) and athletic status. A total of 551 athletes were divided by type of sport (endurance athletes, n = 266 vs. sprint/power athletes, n = 285) as well as by level of competition (elite-level vs. national-level). The control group consisted of 1,416 ethnically-matched, non-athletic participants, all Europeans. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between FTO A/T genotypes and athletic status/competition level.
Results
There were no significantly greater/lesser odds of harbouring any type of genotype when comparing across athletic status (endurance athletes, sprint/power athletes or control participants). These effects were observed after controlling for sex and nationality. Furthermore, no significantly greater/lesser odds ratios were observed for any of the genotypes in respect to the level of competition (elite-level vs. national-level).
Conclusion
The FTO A/T polymorphism is not associated with elite athletic status in the largest group of elite athletes studied to date. Large collaborations and data sharing between researchers, as presented here, are strongly recommended to enhance the research in the field of exercise genomics.
Citation: Eynon N, Nasibulina ES, Banting LK, Cieszczyk P, Maciejewska-Karlowska A, Sawczuk M, et al. (2013) The FTO A/T Polymorphism and Elite Athletic Performance: A Study Involving Three Groups of European Athletes. PLoS ONE 8(4):
e60570.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060570
Editor: Conrad P. Earnest,
University of Bath, United Kingdom
Received: October 30, 2012; Accepted: February 28, 2013; Published: April 3, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 Eynon et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: The authors have no support or funding to report.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Description
This study examines the association between the FTO A/T polymorphism and athletic performance in elite athletes.