TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Shortened telomeres and serum protein biomarker abnormalities in collision sport athletes regardless of concussion history and sex
JO  - Journal of concussion
A1  - Symons, Georgia F.
A1  - Clough, Meaghan
A1  - O'Brien, William T.
A1  - Ernest, Joel
A1  - Salberg, Sabrina
A1  - Costello, Daniel
A1  - Sun, Mujun
A1  - Brady, Rhys D.
A1  - McDonald, Stuart J.
A1  - Wright, David K.
A1  - White, Owen
A1  - Abel, Larry
A1  - O'Brien, Terence J.
A1  - Mccullough, Jesse
A1  - Aniceto, Roxanne
A1  - Lin, I-Hsuan
A1  - Agoston, Denes V.
A1  - Fielding, Joanne
A1  - Mychasiuk, Richelle
A1  - Shultz, Sandy R.
SP  - e2059700220975609
EP  - e2059700220975609
VL  - 4
IS  - 
N2  - Mild brain injuries are frequent in athletes engaging in collision sports and have been linked to a range of long-term neurological abnormalities. There is a need to identify how these potential abnormalities manifest using objective measures; determine whether changes are due to concussive and/or sub-concussive injuries; and examine how biological sex affects outcomes. This study investigated cognitive, cellular, and molecular biomarkers in male and female amateur Australian footballers (i.e. Australia's most participated collision sport). 95 Australian footballers (69 males, 26 females), both with and without a history of concussion, as well as 49 control athletes (28 males, 21 females) with no history of brain trauma or participation in collision sports were recruited to the study. Ocular motor assessment was used to examine cognitive function. Telomere length, a biomarker of cellular senescence and neurological health, was examined in saliva. Serum levels of tau, phosphorylated tau, neurofilament light chain, and 4-hydroxynonenal were used as markers to assess axonal injury and oxidative stress. Australian footballers had reduced telomere length (p = 0.031) and increased serum protein levels of 4-hydroxynonenal (p = 0.001), tau (p = 0.007), and phosphorylated tau (p = 0.036). These findings were independent of concussion history and sex. No significant ocular motor differences were found. Taken together, these findings suggest that engagement in collision sports, regardless of sex or a history of concussion, is associated with shortened telomeres, axonal injury, and oxidative stress. These saliva- and serum-based biomarkers may be useful to monitor neurological injury in collision sport athletes.    Keywords: Australian football; Soccer<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2059-7002
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2059700220975609
ID  - ref1
ER  -