Gene-Exercise Interactions in Athletes

Athlete status is a heritable trait that could be explained with a number of potentially important DNA polymorphisms contributing to predisposition to success in certain types of sport. The first aim of the study is to determine the genetic profile of Slovenian athletes. The associations of 30 common gene polymorphisms with aerobic and anaerobic athlete status will be investigated as a single and polygenic profile. The second aim is to investigate the impact of the genetic variants contributing to different acute response to low vs. high intensity exercise. Physiological and biochemical measurements will be carried out. Variability in physiological adaptation in response to exercise will provides an opportunity to study the relationship between the molecular response to exercise and the extent of physiological changes in athletes. Currently, it is not yet clear whether different genetic variant associated with exercise responses remains uniform, with different exercise intensities, structure and duration of exercise.