Introduction. The aim of present study was the comparison and the investigation of the association of incidence and severity of exercise-induced injuries among various genotypes of ACTN3 in Iranian male elite weightlifters.
Materials and Methods. In this quasi-experimental study, 30 elite male weightlifters participated. Fuller et al. (2006) Sports Injury Registration Questionnaire was used for data collection. After DNA extraction via using saliva samples of individuals, to assess the genotypes, PCR, electrophoresis and finally Tetra ARMs were performed. Kruskal-Wallis test via SPSS version 21 was used to compare the incidence and severity of different injuries among different genotypes of ACTN3 R577X polymorphism rs1815739 (α=0.05).
Results. There is a significant difference among different genotypes in the severity of muscle spasm, rupture, and strain injuries in elite Iranian male weightlifters (P<0.05) (higher severity of injuries in CT and TT genotypes). In contrast, no significant difference was observed among different genotypes in the percentage of frequency of various sports injuries in different parts of the body and the severity of other sports injuries in elite Iranian male weightlifters(P>0.05).
Conclusion. Candidate weightlifters with the CC genotype of the ACTN3 gene may be more resistant to exercise-induced muscle injuries in strength and power sports such as weightlifting, which may increase their chances of success in these sports (in contrast to athletes with TT and CT genotype). These results can be useful in identifying people who are prone to success or providing more specific training programs for people prone to injury in sports such as weightlifting.