Association of Myostatin Gene Polymorphisms with Strength and Muscle Mass in Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the MSTN rs1805086 Mutation.

Polymorphism (rs1805086), , () of the myostatin gene () has been associated with a skeletal muscle phenotype (hypertrophic response in muscles due to strength training). However, there are not enough reliable data to demonstrate whether rs1805086 K and R allelic variants are valid genetic factors that can affect the strength phenotype of athletes' skeletal muscles. The aim is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association of rs1805086 polymorphism with the strength phenotype of athletes. This study analyzed 71 research articles on and performed a meta-analysis of rs1805086 polymorphism in strength-oriented athletes and a control (non-athletes) group. It was found that athletes in the strength-oriented athlete group had a higher frequency of the minor variant than that in the control group (OR = 2.02, = 0.05). Thus, the obtained results convincingly demonstrate that there is an association between the studied polymorphism and strength phenotype of athletes; therefore, further studies on this association are scientifically warranted.