Study Identifies Genes And Mutations Associated With Exercise Traits

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Study Identifies Genes And Mutations Associated With Exercise Traits

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=57542

Your parents may be to thank - or to blame - for how your body

responds to exercise, and the genes responsible are slowly being

identified. That's one of the conclusions of research published by

the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM.) As presented in the

November issue of ACSM's official journal, Medicine & Science in

Sports & Exercise®, the study updates the human gene map for fitness

and physical performance.

" Some people are gifted, " said lead researcher Claude Bouchard,

Ph.D., FACSM, referring to such characteristics as cardiorespiratory

endurance, strength, flexibility, and body composition. Genetics

play a big role in such matters, as they do in " trainability " - the

capacity to benefit from exercise. " But, " said Bouchard, " there's no

correspondence between the genes responsible for your being

advantaged, even as a sedentary person and those allowing you to

gain from exercise. "

The study reviewed research published through December 2005

exploring genes and genetic markers linked to performance or

fitness. " This compendium, " said Bouchard, " brings into a single

source many studies published in a large number of journals around

the world. We can begin to see trends and commonalities among the

studies. " The first version of the fitness and performance gene map,

published in 2001, listed only about one-fifth of the known gene

locations mapped in the Bouchard team's current work.

The study confirmed what had been suggested by earlier research on

families and twins: beyond physical traits, there are significant

genetic differences in people's inclination to be physically active.

Likewise, different people may achieve different results from the

same activity. Such knowledge has benefits beyond its value as pure

science. While the benefits of regular physical activity are well

established, said Bouchard, " We're beginning to see a new area

emerge: studies focusing on the role of genetic differences in the

inclination to be physically active. Recently, studies have

investigated specific genes for their potential contribution to

physical activity or the propensity to be sedentary. That's new -

that's an important line of research. "

An understanding of the role genes play in the inclination to be

physically active could make valuable contributions to efforts to

improve fitness and health in the general population. " We haven't

been able to influence people's behavior to change dramatically

their level of physical activity or sedentarism, " said

Bouchard. " Compared with the magnitude of the problem, we've made

very small progress. I contend that there are biological forces that

force us back into the same groove when we change from being

sedentary to being more active. Those forces are partly determined

by our genetic makeup. Thus, research into genetic factors

underlying exercise and physical activity levels is a very

worthwhile area to pursue from a public health perspective. "

Such research, advocates maintain, deserves more support. While

studies of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease receive substantial

funding, said Bouchard, relatively little attention is paid to the

role of physical activity in maintaining health. He adds

that " research should be driven by the need to understand the origin

of these diseases taking into account the totality of the factors

that may be involved, including genetics, in-utero maternal

programming, smoking, nutrition and physical activity, among other

factors. "

" The Human Gene Map for Performance and Health-Related Fitness

Phenotypes " the 2005 Update " appears in the November 2006 issue of

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the official journal of

the American College of Sports Medicine.

Claude Bouchard, Ph.D., is director of the Human Genomics Laboratory

at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rough, LA. His

collaborators on the gene map study were:

-- Molly S. Bray, Ph.D. (Baylor College of Medicine)

-- M. Hagberg, Ph.D. (University of land)

-- Louis Pérusse, Ph.D. (Laval University)

-- M. Roth, Ph.D. (University of land)

-- Bernd Wolfarth, Ph.D. (Technical University Munich)