A new study appearing in Physiological Genomics found that elite endurance athletes were more likely to have variations of the NRF2 gene than elite sprinters. Additionally, nonelite endurance athletes were more likely to have the genetic variations compared to sprinters, although the difference was not as pronounced.

The researchers investigated the NRF2 gene because previous studies have shown that it may play a role in endurance performance because it helps produce new mitochondria, and it reduces the harmful effects of oxidation and inflammation, which increase during exercise.

“These findings suggest that harboring this specific genotype might increase the probability of being an endurance athlete,” said author Nir Eynon of Wingate Institute in Israel.

The recent study is part of a larger body of research that is exploring the human genome and aims to understand the genetic underpinnings of athletic performance.

The study examined 155 track and field athletes who competed in national or international track and field competitions. The athletes were further subdivided into an endurance group (10,000-meter and marathon runners) and a sprint group (100- and 200-meter and long jump). The control group consisted of 240 nonathletic healthy individuals. These groups were further divided into elite-level (those who had represented Israel in the world track and field championships or in the Olympics) and national-level (those who had competed in national competitions, but not international).

The researchers discovered that two variations in the NRF2 gene (specifically, the NRF2 A allele and the NRF2 C/T genotype) occurred more often in endurance athletes than in sprinters.

“Eighty percent of the elite-level endurance athletes were carrying the A allele of the NRF2 A/C single nucleotide protein, compared to only 46% of the elite-level sprinters,” said Eynon in an announcement about the study.

The combined NRF2 AA+ NRF2 C/T genotype was more frequent in endurance athletes than in the sprinters group and the control group.