The Impact of the ACTN3 rs1815739 Polymorphism on Physical Performance in Youth Football Players

Cerit M., Önlü A. Ş., Ahmedov I., Yılmaz Hızarcı Ö. Ö., Tacal Aslan B., Dalip M., ...Daha Fazla

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, cilt.27, sa.21, ss.3-16, 2026 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 27 Sayı: 21
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3390/ijms27219429
  • Dergi Adı: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.3-16
  • Marmara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This cross-sectional study examined ACTN3 rs1815739 (C/T; R577X) genotype distribution

and its associations with physical performance and biological maturation in male youth

football players. A total of 274 players (11–14 years, n = 166; 15–18 years, n = 108) from a

professional club in North Macedonia completed Yo-Yo Intermi ent Recovery, linear

sprint, and jump tests, including the drop jump, countermovement jump (CMJ), and squat

jump (SJ). Genotype frequencies were compared with the 1000 Genomes European refer-

ence population (n = 503). ACTN3 CC (RR) genotype was more frequent in players than

in the reference population (48.2% vs. 32.0%; OR = 1.97, 95% CI 1.46–2.67, p < 0.0001), as

was the C (R) allele (OR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.08–1.66, p = 0.009). However, the player genotype

distribution deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p < 0.001). CMJ height increased

by approximately 2.3 cm per one-year increase in maturity offset (p < 0.001). In the

younger cohort, TT (XX) carriers had lower Yo-Yo distance and estimated VO2max than

CC and CT (RX) carriers (p = 0.007). Exploratory whole-sample models provided limited

evidence that the association between maturity offset, and vertical-jump performance

(CMJ, SJ) might differ by genotype; however, these interactions were not statistically sig-

nificant after correction for multiple testing. No significant genotype differences were ob-

served for sprint performance or most other jump-related outcomes. These findings indi-

cate that ACTN3–performance associations in youth football players are modest and out-

come-specific and should be interpreted cautiously given the external reference popula-

tion and deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium.