Examination of anterior cruciate ligament injuries and genetic relationship: A systematic study

Background: Sports injuries can be an important health problem that is difficult to compensate for athletes. Anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACLI) is a soft tissue injury frequently faced by both athletes and sedentary individuals. In early studies on ACLI, it was reported that these injuries were mostly hormonal, biomechanical and genetic. However, the inconsistencies in these studies are still not fully explained. It is also known that differences in the protein levels of collagen structures play a critical role in non-contact soft tissue injuries. In this sense, it is thought that gene variants may cause sensitivity on ACLI by affecting collagen tissues.ObjectiveThe aim of the study is to systematically examine the relationship between ACLI and genes. In addition, the current study aims to reveal that some genes that are frequently studied in the literature may be related to the structure of the ACL.MethodsStudies on the subject were examined in PubMed and PubMed-Central databases registered with The National Center for Biotechnology Information. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses were used in data selection and evaluation.Results11 articles that met the criteria were subjected to bias analysis. It was reported that 7 studies were at a critical level in terms of overall risk. Additionally, statistically significant differences were reported in 6 of the 11 studies.ConclusionThe genes COL1A1, COL5A1, MMP3, TGFBR3, TGFBI, VEGFA, β-fibrinogen and COL12A1 can protect individuals against ACLI by affecting the formation of soft tissues.