Differential muscle damage response of ACTN3 R577X polymorphism in male adolescent badminton athletes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v82.119396Keywords:
ACTN3 R577X Polymorphism, ACTN3, Muscle Damage, BadmintonAbstract
Background: Badminton's explosive movements carry a high risk of muscle injury. This study investigates the relationship between the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism and muscle damage biomarkers Creatine Kinase (CK) and myoglobin in male adolescent badminton athletes following the Badminton Fatigue Test (BFT).
Methods: This longitudinal observational study utilized a pre-post design involving 30 male athletes. Participants were categorized by ACTN3 genotype into RR (n=8), RX (n=13), and XX (n=9) groups before undergoing the BFT to induce muscle damage. Biomarker levels were evaluated at three time points: pre-test, 1-hour post-BFT, and 24-hours post-BFT.
Results: Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant increase in CK and myoglobin (p<0.001) across all gene variants at both post-BFT time points. A two-way ANOVA showed no significant interaction between genotype and time for CK levels (p=0.404), but indicated a significant difference for myoglobin (p=0.038). Although CK differences lacked statistical significance, Cohen's d analysis demonstrated a moderate-to-large effect size (0.8–1.4), indicating higher CK and myoglobin responses in the XX variant (α-actinin-3 deficiency) compared to the other genotypes at both post-test points.
Conclusion: The absence of the α-actinin-3 protein (XX genotype) is associated with a substantially greater muscle damage response. This is of practical importance, as evidenced by the statistically significant increase in myoglobin levels following induced fatigue.
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