Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 Polymorphisms Have Protective Effect against the Development of Tendinopathy in Volleyball Athletes

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 12; p. e0167717
• Main Authors: Salles, José Inácio, Duarte, Maria Eugenia Leite, Guimarães, João Matheus, Lopes, Lucas Rafael, Vilarinho Cardoso, Jessica, Aguiar, Diego Pinheiro, Machado Neto, João Olyntho, Machado, Daniel Escorsim, Perini, Jamila Alessandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08-12-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Angiogenesis; Athletes; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Confidence intervals; Demographics; Disease control; Family medical history; Female; Genes; Genetic diversity; Genetic variance; Genetic variation; Genotypes; Haplotypes; Health aspects; Humans; Injuries; Joint surgery; Logistic regression; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Musculoskeletal diseases; Pain; People and Places; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Regression models; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Statistical analysis; Studies; Target recognition; Tendinopathy - genetics; Tendinosis; Tendons; Training; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 - genetics; Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors; Volleyball; Volleyball players; Young Adult; Brazil; Rio de Janeiro Brazil
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167717

The aim of the study was to investigate whether genetic variants in VEGF and KDR genes can be correlated with susceptibility of tendinopathy in volleyball athletes. This study was conducted at the Brazilian Volleyball Federation, and comprised 179 volleyball athletes: 88 had a confirmed diagnosis of tendinopathy (cases), whereas 91 had no evidence of the disease (controls). The VEGF (-2578C>A, -460T>C and +936C>T) and KDR (-604C>T, 1192G>A and 1719T>A) polymorphisms were determined by TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction. The odds ratio (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using an unconditional logistic regression model. The evaluation of demographic and clinical characteristics revealed the athlete age (P < 0.001), years of practice in volleyball (P < 0.001) and presence of pain (P = 0.001) were risk factors for tendinopathy. KDR 1192 GA and GA + AA genotypes were associated with lower risk of tendinopathy (OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.19-0.88 and OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.23-0.98, respectively). The KDR (-604C>T, 1192G>A and 1719T>A) haplotypes CGA and CAT were associated with decreased tendinopathy risk (OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21-0.99 and OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.07-0.76, respectively). With regards to pain, traumatic lesion and away from training due to injury, VEGF and KDR polymorphisms were not associated with clinical symptoms complaints. The present results provide evidence that the KDR polymorphisms were associated with development of tendinopathy, and can contribute to identify new therapeutic targets or personalized training programs to avoid tendinopathy development in athletes.