Nacim Molina-Gutiérrez; Mauricio Flores-Quezada; Cintia Contreras-Montero & Alejandro Pacheco Valles

The angiotensin converting enzyme gene (ACE) has been associated with endurance and strength performance through its I/D polymorphism. Nevertheless, contradictory results exist between different populations. In this context, the purpose of this research was to determine the influence of the I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene on muscle strength in a sedentary Chilean sample. In this study 102 healthy male students (21.3 ± 2.2 years) completed the assessment. I/D genotyping, cardiovascular, anthropometric, grip strength and knee extensor peak strength were evaluated. The ACE polymorphism frequency was: II, 33.3 %; ID, 46.1 %; DD, 20.6 %. The results showed significant differences and large effect size in maximum (p = 0.004; d = 0.85) and relative handgrip strength (p = 0.004; d = 0.9) between genotype II vs DD. No difference was found for maximal or relative knee extensor strength between groups (p = 0.74), showing a low effect size (d = 0.20). In conclusion, this study provides insights into the role of the ACE gene in muscle strength and highlights the importance of investigating genetic variants in sedentary populations to better understand strength performance.

KEY WORDS: Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene; I/D polymorphism; Sedentary.

MOLINA-GUTIÉRREZ, N.; FLORES-QUEZADA, M.; CONTRERAS-MONTERO, C.; PACHECO VALLES, A. Differences in muscle strength performance according to the genotypes of the rs4646994 polymorphism of the ACE gene in a sedentary population. Int. J. Morphol., 42(2):227-233, 2024.