Serum Amyloid Beta Precursor Protein, Neurofilament Light, and Visinin-like Protein-1 in Rugby Players: An Exploratory Study

• Main Authors: Jessica E. Morgan (Author), Sarean A. Gaynor-Metzinger (Author), Steven D. Beck (Author), Iustin C. Scobercea (Author), India J. Austin (Author), Hannah E. Blankenship (Author), Julien S. Baker (Author), Allan Knox (Author), Jorge M. Serrador (Author), Matthew J. Rogatzki (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Concussion diagnosis is difficult and may be improved with the addition of a blood-based biomarker that indicates concussion. The purpose of this research was to investigate the capability of serum amyloid beta precursor protein (APP), neurofilament light (NfL), and visinin-like protein-1 (VILIP-1) to distinguish athletes who were diagnosed with a concussion pitch-side. An observational cross-sectional study design was used to replicate sideline concussion diagnosis. Subjects included mutually exclusive pre-match (<i>n</i> = 9), post-match (<i>n</i> = 15), and SRC (<i>n</i> = 7) groups. Six paired pre-and post-match subjects were analyzed for APP. APP increased significantly from pre-match (mean = 57.98 pg·mL⁻¹, SD = 63.21 pg·mL⁻¹) to post-match (mean = 111.37 pg·mL⁻¹, SD = 106.89 pg·mL⁻¹, <i>p</i> = 0.048) in the paired subjects. NfL was lower in the SRC group (median = 8.71 pg·mL⁻¹, IQR = 6.09 pg·mL⁻¹) compared to the post-match group (median = 29.60 pg·mL⁻¹, IQR = 57.45 pg·mL⁻¹, <i>p</i> < 0.001). VILIP-1 was higher in the post-match group (median = 212.18 pg·mL⁻¹, IQR = 345.00 pg·mL⁻¹) compared to both the pre-match (median = 32.63 pg·mL⁻¹, IQR = 52.24 pg·mL⁻¹), <i>p</i> = 0.001) and SRC (median = 30.21 pg·mL⁻¹, IQR = 47.20 pg·mL⁻¹), <i>p</i> = 0.003) groups. APP, NfL, and VILIP-1 were all able to distinguish between pre-match and post-match groups (AUROC > 0.700) but not from the SRC group (AUROC < 0.660). Our results show that APP, NfL, and VILIP-1 were not helpful in differentiating concussed from non-concussed athletes pitch-side in this study.

Item Description

10.3390/sports10120194
2075-4663