SUMMARY

Background. The increasing popularity of sport and the desire of athletes to exceed their performance limits have significantly increased both the number of injuries and the losses related to these injuries. Soft tissues are under the influence of many internal and external factors. Of these factors, genetics can have a considerable impact on soft tissue injuries. For this purpose, many gene polymorphisms have been detected in some stud- ies. One of these polymorphisms, the COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism may have a criti- cal role on soft tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism and non-contact soft tissue injuries.

Methods. The study was designed as a systematic review, and PRISMA 2020 statement was used to selection of the studies. PubMed and PubMed Central in NCBI, Web of Science and Google Scholar internet databases were scanned. ROBIN-I, including Cochrane handbook, Robvis tools, were used to determine the risk level of bias.

Results. As a result, 9 case-control studies were found to meet the criteria. However, there is a significant risk of bias in studies investigating the relationship between COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism and non-contact soft tissue injuries. When the results were exam- ined, statistically significant results were found in 2 of the 9 studies, but not in 7 studies.

Conclusions. COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism may be an important regulator on soft tissues. To this end, clinical applications describing the mechanism of non-contact soft tissue injuries with individuals from larger populations may make important contribu- tions to this field.

Study registration. Prospero ID: 1064082.

KEY WORDS
COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism; genetic; non-contact soft tissue injuries; performance; sport.