More on red blood cell genetic variation in Olympic athletes.

Abstract

As a follow-up to De Garay et al. (1976) and Chagnon et al. (1984) studies, we are reporting on the genetic variation of four red blood cell enzymes in 49 athletes with isoelectric-focusing and electrophoresis techniques. The athletes were Caucasians participating in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. They were performing in 5 different sports and the sample included 18 women and 31 men. No uncommon allele was found and all known alleles were detected for each enzyme. Phenotypes and gene frequencies were computed and compared with appropriate populations of reference. No significant differences were observed for any of the enzymes. Moreover, no association was found between variation in these proteins and participation in rowing (N = 25) or track (N = 13) event.