ACE Genotype and Endurance Performance Level in Hispanic Marathon Runners

1776 The extent of the association between the Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme (ACE) genotype and endurance performance level (EPL) in Caucasians is surrounded by controversy. PURPOSE: We examined the hypothesis of association between the ACE insertion/deletion genotype and EPL status in Hispanics. METHODS: DNA samples were obtained from 204 Hispanic marathon runners (men n = 157; women n = 47). Cases (n = 101; men = 77; women = 24) were finishers in the top 3%ile, while controls (n = 103; men = 80; women = 23) were those in the lowest 3%ile of their respective age and gender. Genotypes were determined by PCR product size. RESULTS: The observed genotypic distributions within each gender were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (χ2, P>0.05) and were not significantly (χ2 = 1.49, P = 0.47) different between genders. The allelic frequencies were not significantly (P>0.05) different between men and women. Therefore, the observed frequencies for both genders were pooled. χ2 analysis revealed no significant differences in genotype (P>0.05) or allele (P>0.05) frequencies between the cases and controls. The frequency of the insertion allele was 44% in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: We found no support for the hypothesis of association between the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism and endurance performance level in our homogeneous cohort of Hispanics marathon runners. Supported by CRC-RCMI 1P20RR11126, RCMI #G12RR03051, Comité de Fondismo: FPRA, Maratón Pacifico, Maratón de Culiacán, Maratón de Guadalajara, Maratón Popular de Madrid.