Skip to main content
Download PDF

Volume 12 Supplement 1

Proceedings of the Twelfth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo

Genetic variation related to caffeine metabolism or response during exercise

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition volume 12, Article number: P53 (2015) Cite this article

Background

Caffeine use for improved athletic performance has variable effects. Caffeine can exert a wide variety of physiologic effects that range from adverse (e.g., anxiety, increased heart rate, nervousness) to pleasurable (e.g., alertness, elevated mood, increased energy), which could be associated with individual genetic differences.

Methods

We examined whether a panel of 25 SNPs in 19 genes that might be related to caffeine metabolism or response modified exercise performance, or were associated with any physiologic outcomes during exercise. Subjects were trained male cyclists (n = 33) who underwent a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial to test the effects of caffeine (6 mg/kg) on various performance parameters during a computer-simulated 40 km time trial. The 25 SNPs were genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY® system, and caffeine-genotype interactions on time trial time, VO2 max, heart rate, respiratory exchange ratio and rate of perceived exertion were assessed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results

There was a significant interaction between caffeine and rs4410790, a SNP located near the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) gene, on heart rate during the time trial (p = 0.007). Compared with placebo, caffeine supplementation increased heart rate (HR) to a greater extent in carriers of the T allele (n = 19; placebo = 155 ± 12 bpm; caffeine = 165 ± 11 bpm p = < 0.0001) compared with CC homozygotes (n = 14; placebo = 164 ± 15 bpm; caffeine 167 ± 14 bpm p = 0.11).

Conclusion

Our findings show that a polymorphism near the AHR gene was associated with a greater elevation in HR during a 40-kilometer time trial after caffeine ingestion, but had no effect on performance.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E2, Canada

    Nanci S Guest, Joseph Jamnik & Ahmed El-Sohemy

  2. Department of Kinesiology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    Christopher Womack

Authors
  1. Nanci S Guest
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joseph Jamnik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christopher Womack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ahmed El-Sohemy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nanci S Guest.

Rights and permissions

This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guest, N.S., Jamnik, J., Womack, C. et al. Genetic variation related to caffeine metabolism or response during exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 12, P53 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-12-S1-P53

Download citation

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition

ISSN: 1550-2783

Contact us