It is well known that resistance exercise training is effective in preventing and improving age-related sarcopenia. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the effects of resistance exercise training and genetic polymorphisms involved in muscle mass in elderly Japanese subjects in order to search for a genetic polymorphism that could be used to predict the effects of muscle training for the prevention or improvement of sarcopenia in advance.
　The subjects were 14 elderly Japanese subjects (mean age: 70.3 years) with relatively low skeletal muscle mass. An intervention program consisting of six months of resistance exercise training was implemented and skeletal muscle mass prior to and after muscle training was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), with the results forming an index for training effects. The relationship between the rate of change of skeletal muscle mass caused by muscle training and the genetic polymorphisms alpha-actinin 3 (ACTN3), the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) involved in skeletal muscle mass were examined. Results revealed that a genetic polymorphism which could be used to predict the effects of muscle training in advance might exist. In the future, sample sizes need to be increased and more detailed investigations need to be conducted.

DESCENTE SPORTS SCIENCE Vol.34/THE DESCENTE AND ISHIMOTO MEMORIAL FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION SPORTS SCIENCE