Background The prevention, diagnosis, and management of noncontact musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries (NCMSTI) related to participation in sport are key components of sport and exercise medicine physician. Epidemiological data have demonstrated the existence of interindividual differences in NCMSTI severity indicating that those injuries occur as a consequence of a combination of both, extrinsic and intrinsic factors, including genetic variations.

Methodology We examined 8 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the following genes (ELN, TTN, SOX15, IGF2, CCL2, COL1A1, COL5A1 and TNC) related to tissue recovery and tissue repair in a total of 73 elite european football players population from white, black-african and hispanic origin and, at the same time, we have collected NCMSTI suffered by these population during three consecutive seasons. Finally we have correlated results with type, degree and recovery time in injuries collected and then with the distribution of injuries in the three studied populations.

Results 242 injuries were recorded (203 were muscle, 24 were ligament, and 15 were tendon). The degree of muscle injury was related to IGF2 (P=0.032). Moreover, we observed a close but non-significant relation between degree of muscle injury and CCL2 (P=0.1) and COL5A1 (P=0.07). We also found a close relation between ELN and degree (P=0.09) and a significant relation between ELN and recovery time (P=0.027) of ligament injuries.

The frequency of the SNPs varied among the three sub-groups in the present study (p<0.0001). Our results shown a significant relation between ligament injuries and ELN (p=0.001) and a significant relation between tendinous injuries and ELN (p=0.05) and IGF2 (p=0.05) in white population. Moreover, we have observed a significant relation between muscle injuries and ELN (p=0.032) and IGF2 (p=0.016) in Hispanic population.

Conclusions SNPs study constitutes a new field of investigation in Sports Medicine which will help us to identify individuals with shorter recovery and those with greater risk of injury. Our results are only the pave to demonstrate that these genotyping interracial differences are important when studying injuries and let us to indicate that the genetic profile based on the SNPs can be use to describe, as objectively as possible each individuals injurability risk and may well be a useful tool for football players to receive a more specific treatment and preventive care options.