Copyright © 2022 Korean Society of Exercise Physiology 105 The AGTR2 (RS11091046) Gene Polymorphism is Associated with Cycling Performance in Korean Cyclists Seok-ki Min 1 PhD, Seung-taek Lim 2 PhD, Kwangkyu Lee 3 PhD, Jieun Kim 1 MA, Eonho Kim 4 PhD, Eunbin Jee 5 MA 1 Department of Sport Science, Korea Institute of Sport Science (KISS), Seoul; 2 Olympic Studies Center, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon; 3 Department of Sports Rehabilitation, Chungcheong University, Cheongju; 4 Department of Physical Education, Dongguk University, Seoul, Korea; 5 Graduate School of Health and Sport Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan INTRODUCTION Skeletal muscle is the largest organ in the human body. In the past de- cade, skeletal muscle has been also identified as a secretory organ. To understand how to communicate skeletal muscle and biochemical path- ways in protein synthesis is getting important more and over not only from a pathological perspective but also in the field of athletic perfor- mance [1]. According to recent studies, training methods for competitive cyclists are changing to adding heavy strength training to endurance training [2,3]. Since, professional cyclists need to possess the ability to accomplish a comparatively high-power output of short duration during the steep climbing, the mass start, and the finish of the race [4]. To date, more than 200 health- and fitness-related phenotypes have been found [5]. As an example, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is most frequently researched in the field of sports genetics. ACE is a tonic regulator of circulatory homeostasis and also a family of the Re- nin-angiotensin system (RAS) which contains the angiotensinogen (AGT), Angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AGTR1) and Angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AGTR2) [6]. The AGTR2 Gene (A > C, rs11091046) of the X chromosome, located at Xq22-q23, has emerged recently as a crucial gene candidate that influences on athletic performance. The AGTR2, which is one of the important components of RAS, is known as a media- tor of vasodilation and antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in vascular smooth muscle [7]. The presence of AGTR2 is in skeletal muscle fiber throughout the rat skeletal muscle microcirculation [8]. The evidence has demonstrated the possibility of a correlation between the expression ORIGINAL ARTICLE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ISSN(Print) : 1226-1726 ISSN(Online) : 2384-0544 PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the association between AGTR2 (rs11091046 A>C) gene polymorphism and athletic per- formance. METHODS: The Korean national team cyclists enrolled in the study performed 30-second Wingate test (peak power, mean power, and power drop), one-repetition maximum (squat and bench press), and isokinetic dynamometer (60° extensor and flexor in both legs) to examine the power/sprint performance between the C and A alleles. RESULTS: The physical characteristics showed no significant difference between the C and A alleles. Comparison of physical fitness tests in cyclists revealed no significant difference between the two alleles in one-repetition maximum and isokinetic dynamometer. However, the C allele had a significantly higher peak power (10.46±0.82 vs. 9.92±0.57, p = .016) and mean power (8.30 ± 0.48 vs. 7.95 ± 0.47, p =.022) than A allele in the Wingate test. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the AGTR2 gene C allele is associated with the power/sprint performance of the Korean national team cyclists. Key words: AGTR2, Genotype, Polymorphism, Athletic performance, Alleles Vol.31, No. 1, February 2022: 105-109 https://doi.org/10.15857/ksep.2021.00451 Corresponding author: Eunbin Jee Tel +82-10-5118-9956 E-mail sponjee89@gmail.com Received 9 Aug 2021 Revised 23 Dec 2021 Accepted 24 Dec 2021 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.