Does the A9285G Polymorphism in Collagen Type XII α1 Gene Associate with the Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Ruptures?
One of the most severe injuries sustained by athletes is rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Recent investigations suggest that a predisposition for ACL rupture may be the result of specific genetic sequence variants. In light of this, we decided to investigate whether the COL12A1 A9285G polymorphism was associated with ACL ruptures in Polish football players. We compared genotypic and allelic frequencies of the COL12A1 A9285G polymorphism in two groups of athletes: 91 male football players (23 ± 3 years) with surgically diagnosed primary ACL ruptures who qualified for ligament reconstruction (cases) and 143 apparently healthy, male football players of the same ethnicity, a similar age category, and a comparable level of exposure to ACL injury, who were without any self-reported history of ligament or tendon injury (controls). DNA samples extracted from the oral epithelial cells were genotyped by using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (Ri-Ti-PCR) method. The genotype distribution in the cases were not different from those in controls (p = 0.70). The frequency of the G allele was lower in the cases (18.1%) but not statistically significant (p = 0.40) when compared with controls (21.3%). Our results are in contradiction to the hypothesis that the COL12A1 A9285G polymorphism is associated with a predisposition for ACL injury. However, these conclusions should be supported with more experimental studies on COL12A1 polymorphisms.
Galen Orthopaedics, Bieruń, Poland.
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K
Ficek
Department of Physical Culture and Health Promotion, University of Szczecin, Poland.
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M
Stepien-Slodkowska
Department of Clinical and Molecular Biochemistry, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
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M
Kaczmarczyk
Department of Genetics, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
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A
Maciejewska-Karlowska
Department of Genetics, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
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M
Sawczuk
Galen Orthopaedics, Bieruń, Poland ; Boni Fratres Catoviensis, Katowice, Poland.
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J
Cholewinski
Department of Physical Culture and Health Promotion, University of Szczecin, Poland.
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A
Leonska-Duniec
Department of Sport Education, Academy of Physical Education and Sport, Gdańsk, Poland.
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A
Zarebska
Department of Physical Culture and Health Promotion, University of Szczecin, Poland.
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Cieszczyk
Department of Physiology, Institute of Sport, Warsaw, Poland.
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P
Zmijewski
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture; COL12A1 gene; Collagen; Polymorphism