Genotypic and Allelic Frequencies of the ACE I/D Polymorphism in Elite Moroccan Athletes and Controls: A Pilot Study
(El Mokhtar El Ouali, Juan Del Coso, Jihan Kartibou, Khadija Ayed, Souad Kartti, Fatiha Laziri, Ismail Laher, Abdelhalem Mesfioui, Hassane Zouhal)

This study sought to investigate the genotypic and allelic frequencies of ACE I/D polymorphisms in elite Moroccan road cyclists and field hockey players. Forty-three Moroccan elite male athletes (19 cyclists; 24 field hockey players) and 28 healthy non-athletes were recruited for the study. All participants underwent ACE I/D polymorphism genotyping by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using genomic DNA from blood samples. The genotypic distribution of the ACE I/D polymorphism was similar in elite athletes (DD: 46.50, ID: 44.20, II: 9.30%) and controls (DD: 42.90, ID: 46.40, II: 10.70%; X2 = 0.103, p = 0.949). The allelic distribution was also similar in elite athletes (D allele; 68.60, I allele: 31.40%) and controls (D allele; 66.07, I allele: 33.93%; X2 = 0.099, p = 0.752) as well as cyclists (D allele; 63.16, I allele: 36.84%) and field hockey players (D allele; 72.92, I allele: 27.08%; X2 = 0.937, p = 0.332). These novel data indicate no significant differences in the genotypic and allelic frequencies of the ACE I/D polymorphism between athletes and controls or between elite road cyclists and field hockey players of Moroccan origin.