The angiotensin converting enzyme I/D polymorphism in Russian athletes

The deletion (D) allele of the human ACE gene is associated with higher ACE activity than the insertion (I) allele. There is controversy as to whether the ACE genotype may be associated with elite athletic status; recent stud ies have identified no significant associations amongst those drawn from mi xed sporting disciplines. However, such lack of association may reflect the mixed nature of such cohorts, given that an excess frequency of the I alle le has been reported amongst elite endurance athletes, and an excess of the D allele amongst those engaged in more power-orientated sports. We examine d this hypothesis by determining ACE I/D allele frequency amongst 217 Russi an athletes (swimmers, skiers, triathletes and track-and-field participants ) prospectively stratified by performance ('outstanding' or 'average'), and the duration of their event (SDA (< 1 min), MDA (1 to 20 min), and LDA (> 20 min): short, middle and long distance athletes respectively). ACE genoty pe and allele frequencies were compared to 449 controls. ACE genotype frequ ency amongst the whole cohort, or the outstanding athletes alone, was no di fferent to that amongst sedentary controls. However, there was an excess of the D allele (frequency 0.72, P=0.001) amongst the outstanding SDA group, and an excess of the I allele (frequency 0.63, P=0.032) amongst the outstan ding MDA group. These findings were replicated in the outstanding swimmers, with track and field SDA similarly demonstrating an excess of the D allele (P=0.01). There was no association found between the outstanding LDA and A CE genotype (P=0.27). These data not only confirm an excess of the D allele in elite SDA, and I allele in elite MDA, but also offer an explanation as to why any such association may be hard to detect amongst a heterogeneous c ohort of mixed athletic ability and discipline.