Abstract
Contact sports participation has been shown to have both beneficial and detrimental effects on health, however little is known about the metabolic sequelae of these effects. We aimed to identify metabolite alterations across a collegiate American football season. Serum was collected from 23 male collegiate football athletes before the athletic season (Pre) and after the last game (Post). Samples underwent nontargeted metabolomic profiling and 1131 metabolites were included for univariate, pathway enrichment, and multivariate analyses. Significant metabolites were assessed against head acceleration events (HAEs). 200 metabolites changed from Pre to Post (P < 0.05 and Q < 0.05); 160 had known identity and mapped to one of 57 pre-defined biological pathways. There was significant enrichment of metabolites belonging to five pathways (P < 0.05): xanthine, fatty acid (acyl choline), medium chain fatty acid, primary bile acid, and glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and pyruvate metabolism. A set of 12 metabolites was sufficient to discriminate Pre from Post status, and changes in 64 of the 200 metabolites were also associated with HAEs (P < 0.05). In summary, the identified metabolites, and candidate pathways, argue there are metabolic consequences of both physical training and head impacts with football participation. These findings additionally identify a potential set of objective biomarkers of repetitive head injury.
Highlights
Recent research has pointed to the potentially deleterious consequences of participating in contact sports, such as American football and s occer[1,2,3]
Twenty-three male collegiate American football athletes were recruited for this study as reported p reviously[15]
Demographic information was obtained from each athlete and confirmed by a team physician: age, race (12 white, 11 African American), years of play experience (YoE; mean = 11 ± 3 years), player position (16 non-speed linemen, 7 speed), and history of diagnosed concussion (HoC; 9 with positive history)[15]
Summary
Recent research has pointed to the potentially deleterious consequences of participating in contact sports, such as American football and s occer[1,2,3] These athletes experience impacts to both body and head during play and brain alterations related to head acceleration events (HAEs) have been d ocumented[3,4,5,6]. Despite these consequences, athletic participation and training has many benefits, including improved cardiovascular endurance and psychosocial development[7]. These findings may elucidate a set of objective biomarkers that could be used to flag signs of head injury that are not detected with traditional behavioral assessments[13,14]
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