Angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D gene polymorphism affects early cardiac response to professional training in young footballers.

Background: The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system plays a role in physiological and pathological responses of the heart to both static and dynamic exercise. Previous studies showed that the level of angiotensin II is determined by the angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (ACE I/D) polymorphism.

Aim: We aimed in this study to determine the effect of ACE I/D gene polymorphism on the extent of functional and structural cardiac changes in response to one year of professional football training in young footballers.

Methods and results: We studied 68 young male football players and a comparable control group. Besides medical history and clinical examination, 12 lead ECG and transthoracic 2D echocardiography examination were performed. Genotyping of ACE was analyzed using PCR-based technique. There was no statistically significant difference in distribution of genotypes among athletes compared with control subjects. D allele showed a graded effect on both EF (73.55, 67.5 and 60.2%, p=0.03) and PASP (37.6, 26.1 and 21.39 mmHg, p=0.02) in DD, ID and II subjects, respectively.

Conclusion: Early cardiac changes in young footballers can be affected by ACE I/D polymorphism. There is a summative effect of the D allele in increasing EF and PASP in response to professional football training.