Association Analysis of Polymorphic Variants of the BDNF Gene in Athletes

• Published in: Genes Vol. 12; no. 9; p. 1340
• Main Authors: Niewczas, Marta, Król, Paweł, Czarny, Wojciech, Bajorek, Wojciech, Rzepko, Marian, Drozd, Sławomir, Płonka, Artur, Drozd, Monika, Czaja, Robert, Błach, Wiesław, Ruzbarsky, Pavel, Chmielowiec, Krzysztof, Michałowska-Sawczyn, Monika, Grzywacz, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28-08-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Association analysis; Athletes - psychology; Brain; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics; Case-Control Studies; Female; Gene expression; Genetic diversity; Genotype & phenotype; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Learning; Leukocytes; Male; Martial arts; Martial Arts - psychology; Nervous system; Neurotrophic factors; Personality; Personality - genetics; Personality Inventory; Personality traits; Poland; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Young Adult; Poland; United States > US; rs10767664; athletes; personality; BDNF; genes; rs2030323
• ISSN: 2073-4425; 2073-4425
• DOI: 10.3390/GENES12091340

As
is one of the group of neurotrophins highly influencing the processes happening in the brain, such as the processes of learning and personality creation, we decided to look closer at its genetic variations in association with the personality of a group of athletes and their controls. The study group consisted of 305 volunteers: martial arts athletes (
= 153; mean age = 24.06) and healthy non-athletes as controls (
= 152; mean age = 22.23). Thirty-eight percent of the martial arts group achieved the championship level. Both the martial arts and control subjects were examined using the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scales. The results of the NEO-FFI and STAI inventories were given as sten scores. The conversion of the raw score to the sten scale was performed according to Polish norms for adults. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood leukocytes and then genotyped using a PCR method for the following polymorphisms:
rs10767664 and
rs2030323. We observed statistical significance for both polymorphisms when comparing martial arts athletes with the control group in relation to the conscientiousness and extraversion scales. However, since few extant articles consider this association, our results still require further analysis, probably by considering a larger group.