en Physiology Physiology پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Introduction</b>: The <i>COMT</i> gene, with its influence on motivation, emotions, stress tolerance, self-control, pain processing, perception, and neurodegeneration, may underpin variations in sports competition outcomes. Thus, this study aims to explore the frequency of the <i>COMT</i> gene rs4680 polymorphism in elite Iranian male athletes in the domains of basketball and wrestling.</span></span><br> <span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Materials & Methods</b>: A total of 60 wrestlers, 55 basketball players, and 60 non-athletes were included as subjects. Saliva samples were used for DNA extraction, and the Tetra ARMS PCR method was employed for genotype determination. The impact of mutations on mRNA second structure and <i>COMT</i> gene function was assessed using RNAsnp and PolyPhen-2 servers, respectively. SPSS22 software facilitated data analysis, with the chi-square test applied to evaluate genotype frequency.</span></span><br> <span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Results</b>: The study did not reveal any association between the <i>COMT</i> rs4680 polymorphism and elite wrestlers and basketball players. Significant differences in genotype distributions or allele frequencies were not observed among (1) wrestlers and basketball players; (2) wrestlers and non-athletes; (3) basketball players and non-athletes. However, further replication studies are warranted (P < 0.05).</span></span><br> <span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Conclusion</b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">: </span></span></b>No significant association was identified between the <i>COMT</i> rs4680 polymorphism and the elite status of wrestlers and basketball players in the studied population. Nevertheless, additional replication studies are imperative for a comprehensive understanding of these relationships.<span lang="FA" dir="RTL" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></span></span></div> COMT, rs4680, polymorphism, elite athletes 39 50 http://jbrms.medilam.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-698-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Vahid Taeid taeidvahid@gmail.com 10031947532846006937 10031947532846006937 No Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran Masoud Rahmati rahmati.mas@lu.ac.ir 10031947532846006938 10031947532846006938 Yes Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran Mohammad Fathi fathi.m@lu.ac.ir 10031947532846006939 10031947532846006939 No Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran Faranak Hadi 10031947532846006940 10031947532846006940 No Department of Biology, Facaulty of Basic Sciences, Lorestan University, Lorestan, Iran