Background: The PPARα gene encodes the peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor alpha, a central regulator of expression of other genes involved in fatty acid metabolism. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of G allele of the PPARα intron 7 G/C polymorphism (rs4253778) in professional Italian soccer players.
Methods: Sixty professional soccer players and 30 sedentary volunteers were enrolled in the study. Samples of venous blood were obtained at rest, in the morning, by conventional clinical procedures; blood serum was collected and total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured. An aliquot of anticoagulant-treated blood was used to prepare genomic DNA from whole blood. The G/C polymorphic site in PPARα intron 7 was scanned by using the PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism) protocol with TaqI enzyme.
Results: We found variations in genotype distribution of PPARα polymorphism between professional soccer players and sedentary volunteers. Particularly, G alleles and the GG genotype were significantly more frequent in soccer players compared with healthy controls (64% versus 48%). No significant correlations were found between lipid profile and genotype background.
Conclusion: Previous results demonstrated an association of intron 7 G allele as well as the GG genotype in endurance athletes. Our result suggests that this is the case also in professional soccer players.
Background: Modern elite football places extremely high demands on the athlete's body, so it is of practical interest to study the effect of various dietary supplements on load tolerance and postexercise recovery. Furthermore, there is a lack of research on the effects of caffeine on key measures of load tolerance in football such as delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) at different time points after the exercise.
Methods: 54 young players aged 15-17 years from a leading Russian football academy took part in a randomised trial using the balanced placebo design.
The study aim was to compare the external load during varying microcycles (M1-M4 during pre-season and M5 during the in-season) in elite female Portuguese soccer players and to describe external load variations between differing Ms. Fourteen first-team players participated in the study (age 23.29 ± 3.
An ecological niche is a field in a landscape of affordances, rich in information inviting its inhabitants to develop functionality and effectiveness of their behavior. This idea means that, in sports like soccer, the playing area encapsulates an ecological niche, replete with affordances inviting collective and individual technical-tactical actions, contextualized with associated psychological and physical demands. To examine the co-adaptive relationships framing players' actions in their ecological niche, the present study employed a crossover design with repeated measures to compare the players' transactions within 11 vs.
Purpose: Shoulder dislocations in professional football are severe injuries with an increasing incidence and considerable layoff times. Unlike other football injuries, the mechanisms leading to shoulder dislocations are not well understood, which limits the development of targeted preventive measures. Thus, the aims of this study were: (1) to analyse injury mechanisms of shoulder dislocations in professional football, (2) to evaluate situational and (3) to assess kinematic patterns by performing a systematic video analysis.
Introduction: Research on the effects of training programs involving small-sided games (SSG) versus high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been increasing in recent years. However, there is limited understanding of how an individual's initial physical fitness level might influence the extent of adaptations achieved through these programs. This study aimed to compare the impacts of SSG and HIIT on male soccer players, while also considering the players' athleticism, categorized into lower and higher total athleticism score (TSA).
