THE ROLE OF GENOMIC PREDICTORS OF HEMATOLOGICAL TRAITS IN ENDURANCE SPORTS
The level of hematological parameters varies between people, which may cause differences in aerobic capacity. Purpose. The aim of the study was to compare the hematological parameters between athletes and control group, and to define the role of genetic factors that determine hematological parameters in aerobic capacity and endurance athlete status.Methods and organization. The study involved 1517 individuals. The hematological study was carried out in 265 endurance athletes and 574 healthy controls using automatic haematological analyzers. The case-control study involved 598 individuals, which were divided into two samples: Russian (n=424) and European (n=174). Genotyping of samples for 93 SNPs was performed using DNA microarrays. Aerobic capacity (V̇O2max) was determined using spiroergometry (n=80).Results and discussion. We found that athletes have higher levels of Hb, MCH, MCV, HCT and lower levelof MCHC compared with control (P<0.05). In addition, elite long-distance athletes have higher hemoglobin level than sub-elite athletes (P<0.05). Furthermore, we identified 15 SNPs associated with hematological traits in the group of Russian athletes, of which two SNPs (RSRP1 rs1043879 T, TRIM38 (5.6 kb) rs169219A) were associated with endurance athlete status and high V̇O2max.Conclusion. Thus, the use of genomic predictors of haematological traits may predict human aerobic capacity and endurance athlete status.