RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Mitochondrial haplogroups associated with elite Japanese athlete status
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 1179
OP 1183
DO 10.1136/bjsm.2010.072371
VO 45
IS 15
A1 Eri Mikami
A1 Noriyuki Fuku
A1 Hideyuki Takahashi
A1 Nao Ohiwa
A1 Robert A Scott
A1 Yannis P Pitsiladis
A1 Mitsuru Higuchi
A1 Takashi Kawahara
A1 Masashi Tanaka
YR 2011
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/45/15/1179.abstract
AB Purpose It has been hypothesised that certain mitochondrial haplogroups, which are defined by the presence of a characteristic cluster of tightly linked mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms, would be associated with elite Japanese athlete status. To examine this hypothesis, the frequencies of mitochondrial haplogroups found in elite Japanese athletes were compared with those in the general Japanese population. Methods Subjects comprised 139 Olympic athletes (79 endurance/middle-power athletes (EMA), 60 sprint/power athletes (SPA)) and 672 controls (CON). Two mitochondrial DNA fragments containing the hypervariable sequence I (m16024–m16383) of the major non-coding region and the polymorphic site at m.5178C>A within the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene were sequenced, and subjects were classified into 12 major mitochondrial haplogroups (ie, F, B, A, N9a, N9b, M7a, M7b, M*, G2, G1, D5 or D4). The mitochondrial haplogroup frequency differences among EMA, SPA and CON were then examined. Results EMA showed an excess of haplogroup G1 (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.05 to 6.02, p=0.032), with 8.9% compared with 3.7% in CON, whereas SPA displayed a greater proportion of haplogroup F (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.28 to 6.07, p=0.007), with 15.0% compared with 6.0% in CON. Conclusions The results suggest that mitochondrial haplogroups G1 and F are associated with elite EMA and SPA status in Japanese athletes, respectively.