Combining impact monitoring mouthguards and blood biomarkers to monitor head impacts among Muay Thai athletes - A case study

• Main Authors: Mikael Swarén (Author), Joel Simrén (Author), Hanna Huber (Author), Henrik Zetterberg (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2772-6967; 10.1016/j.jsampl.2023.100044
• Keywords: Sports related concussion; Sports; Neurofilament light; Martial arts; Sports; GV557-1198.995; Sports medicine; RC1200-1245
• Source: JSAMS Plus, Vol 2, Iss , Pp 100044- (2023)

Objective: To investigate the relationship between head impact characteristics and the levels of blood biomarkers associated with brain injury, neurofilament light (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Methods: Four elite amateur Muay Thai athletes were equipped with impact monitoring mouthguards, collecting linear and rotational acceleration data during a period of eight weeks. Capillary blood samples were collected after each period of sparring sessions to analyse the levels of NfL and GFAP. Results: On a group level, mean GFAP levels were negatively correlated to mean impacts per session (p ​< ​0.05). Two athletes had significant correlations between head impact characteristics and the levels of NfL and/or GFAP. Conclusions: The results indicate that NfL and GFAP might responded differently to linear and rotational accelerations and/or that the effect of different types of accelerations on brain tissue integrity is individual. The methods used could be useful to monitor brain health in different impacts sports.