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. 2024 Jan 5;14(1):665.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-51067-3.

Blood and MRI biomarkers of mild traumatic brain injury in non-concussed collegiate football players

Eunhan Cho  1 , Joshua Granger  1 , Bailey Theall  1 , Nathan Lemoine  2 , Derek Calvert  2 , Jack Marucci  2 , Shelly Mullenix  2 , Hollis O'Neal  3   4 , Tomas Jacome  4 , Brian A Irving  1   5 , Neil M Johannsen  1   5 , Owen Carmichael  5 , Guillaume Spielmann  6   7
Affiliations

Blood and MRI biomarkers of mild traumatic brain injury in non-concussed collegiate football players

Eunhan Cho et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Football has one of the highest incidence rates of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) among contact sports; however, the effects of repeated sub-concussive head impacts on brain structure and function remain under-studied. We assessed the association between biomarkers of mTBI and structural and functional MRI scans over an entire season among non-concussed NCAA Division I linemen and non-linemen. Concentrations of S100B, GFAP, BDNF, NFL, and NSE were assessed in 48 collegiate football players (32 linemen; 16 non-linemen) before the start of pre-season training (pre-camp), at the end of pre-season training (pre-season), and at the end of the competitive season (post-season). Changes in brain structure and function were assessed in a sub-sample of 11 linemen and 6 non-linemen using structural and functional MRI during the execution of Stroop and attention network tasks. S100B, GFAP and BDNF concentrations were increased at post-season compared to pre-camp in linemen. White matter hyperintensities increased in linemen during pre-season camp training compared to pre-camp. This study showed that the effects of repeated head impacts are detectable in the blood of elite level non-concussed collegiate football players exposed to low-moderate impacts to the heads, which correlated with some neurological outcomes without translating to clinically-relevant changes in brain anatomy or function.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean ± SEM for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), S-100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neuron specific enolase (NSE), and neurofilament light (NFL), at pre-camp, post-camp, and post-season. Hash: statistical difference from pre-camp (p < 0.05). Asterisk : statistical difference from non-linemen group (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean ± SEM for structural MRI; normalized gray matter, white matter, white matter hypersensitivity (WMH), cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), at pre-camp, post-camp, and post-season. Hash: statistical difference from pre-camp (p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean ± SEM for Reaction network task) and S TROOP tasks at pre-c amp, post-camp, and post-season. Hash: statistical difference from pre-camp (p < 0.05). Con congruent, InCon incongruent.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlations between structural MRI and biomarkers. BDNF brain derived neurotrophic factor, S100B S100 calcium binding protein B, NSE neuron-specific enolase, NFL neurofilament light chain, CSF cerebral spinal fluid, WM white matter, WMH white matter hypersensitivity, GM gray matter.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlations between ANT (attention network task) trials and BDNF within linemen and non-linemen players. BDNF brain derived neurotrophic factor, RT reaction time.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Correlations between reaction time (RT) of Stroop tasks and GFAP and NFL. GFAP glial fibrillary acidic protein, NFL neurofilament light chain.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Schematic diagram of blood draw, structural MRI, and functional MRI time points (created with BioRender.com.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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