Abstract

The genotyping of α-actinin-3 (ACTN3) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) genes of 31 Zulu South African males aged 20 to 27 years (14 cricketers and 17 controls) was performed by PCR amplification followed by restriction digestion. After ANOVA the associations with C-reactive protein (CRP), uric acid (UA), lactate (LA) and physical characteristics were examined using Chi²maximum likelihood test and Fisher’s exact test. ACTN3 genotype frequencies for the cohort were 90.3% RR and 9.7% RX. The XX genotype was absent. R allele at high frequency of 100% was associated with CRP <3.0 mg/L in cricketers (p=0.0001) and controls (p=0.0140). High R allele frequencies of 80 to 100% were associated in cricketers with lower uric acid (p=0.0001), lactate (p=0.0003) and with body mass index (BMI) and Fat mass (FM) (p=0.0001). TNF genotyping displayed 42% GG, 45% GA and 13% AA for the cohort. CRP <3.0 mg/L was associated (p=0.0001) with A allele frequency (40% cricketers and 18% controls). Associations (p=0.0001) of A allele frequency (9 to 22%) with BMI, Lean body mass (LBM) and FM were found. The genotyping of cricketers was done for the first time.The study demonstrates a strong ACTN3 R allele association with lower CRP, UA and LA levels. The findings of XX null genotype and TNF 308A allele association with CRP inflammatory marker provide evidence about the genotype distribution of previously unexamined homogeneous cohort of African athletes.

Key words: Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) genotype, α-actinin-3 (ACTN3) genotype, polymorphism, C-reactive protein, physical characteristics, Zulu South African cricket players