@article{ref1,
title="Significance of ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 elevations in athletes after sub-concussive head hits",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2014",
author="Puvenna, Vikram and Brennan, Chanda and Shaw, Gerald and Yang, Cui and Marchi, Nicola and Bazarian, Jeffrey J. and Merchant-Borna, Kian and Janigro, Damir",
volume="9",
number="5",
pages="e96296-e96296",
abstract="The impact of sub-concussive head hits (sub-CHIs) has been recently investigated in American football players, a population at risk for varying degrees of post-traumatic sequelae. <br><br>RESULTS show how sub-CHIs in athletes translate in serum as the appearance of reporters of blood-brain barrier disruption (BBBD), how the number and severity of sub-CHIs correlate with elevations of putative markers of brain injury is unknown. Serum brain injury markers such as UCH-L1 depend on BBBD. We investigated the effects of sub-CHIs in collegiate football players on markers of BBBD, markers of cerebrospinal fluid leakage (serum beta 2-transferrin) and markers of brain damage. Emergency room patients admitted for a clinically-diagnosed mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) were used as positive controls. Healthy volunteers were used as negative controls. Specifically this study was designed to determine the use of UCH-L1 as an aid in the diagnosis of sub-concussive head injury in athletes. The extent and intensity of head impacts and serum values of S100B, UCH-L1, and beta-2 transferrin were measured pre- and post-game from 15 college football players who did not experience a concussion after a game. S100B was elevated in players experiencing the most sub-CHIs; UCH-L1 levels were also elevated but did not correlate with S100B or sub-CHIs. Beta-2 transferrin levels remained unchanged. No correlation between UCH-L1 levels and mTBI were measured in patients. Low levels of S100B were able to rule out mTBI and high S100B levels correlated with TBI severity. UCH-L1 did not display any interpretable change in football players or in individuals with mild TBI. The significance of UCH-L1 changes in sub-concussions or mTBI needs to be further elucidated.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0096296",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0096296"
}