Citation

Massidda M, Corrias L, Bachis V, Cugia P, Piras F, Scorcu M, Calò CM. Exp. Ther. Med. 2015; 9(5): 1974-1978.

Affiliation

Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari 09100, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Spandidos Publications)

DOI

10.3892/etm.2015.2364

PMID

26161149

PMCID

PMC4489103

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and musculoskeletal injury (MI) in elite football (soccer) players. In total, 54 male professional football players were recruited from an official Italian professional championship team between 2009 and 2013. The cohort was genotyped for the ApaI, BsmI and FokI polymorphisms and MI data were collected over four football seasons. No significant differences were identified among the genotypes in the incidence rates or severity of MI (P=0.254). In addition, no significant associations were observed between VDR polymorphisms and MI phenotypes (P=0.460). However, the results of the casewise multiple regression analysis indicated that the ApaI genotypes accounted for 18% of injury severity (P=0.002). Therefore, while the BsmI and FokI polymorphisms did not appear to be associated with the severity or incidence of MI, the ApaI genotypes may have influenced the severity of muscle injury in top-level football players.

Language: en