Muscle-specific creatine kinase gene polymorphisms in elite endurance athletes and sedentary controls

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between elite endurance athlete (EEA) status and two restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) at the muscle-specific creatine kinase (CKMM) gene locus. Genomic DNA was extracted from white blood cells or lymphoblastoid cell lines of 124 unrelated Caucasian male EEA (VO2max > 73 mL.kg-1.min-1) and 115 unrelated Caucasian sedentary male controls (SCON). The genetic polymorphism at the CKMM locus was detected by the polymerase chain reaction and DNA digestion with the NcoI and TaqI restriction endonucleases. The allelic frequencies for the NcoI and TaqI RFLPs were not different (P > 0.05) between EEA and SCON subjects. The three expected genotypes for CKMM-NcoI (1170/1170 bp, 1170/985 + 185 bp, and 985 + 185/985 + 185 bp) and CKMM-TaqI (1170/1170 bp, 1170/1020 + 150 bp, and 1020 + 50/1020 + 150 bp) were observed in the EEA and SCON groups. These genotype frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, but they were not significantly (P > 0.05) different between the EEA and SCON. A strong (P < 0.001) linkage disequilibrium was detected among the NcoI and TaqI RFLPs in both EEA and SCON. These findings indicate that the skeletal muscle CK-NcoI and CK-TaqI gene polymorphisms are not associated with the elite endurance athlete status.