Positive association between serum quinolinic acid and functional connectivity following concussion.

The molecular mechanisms underlying the diverse psychiatric and neuropathological sequalae documented in subsets of athletes with concussion have not been identified. We have previously reported elevated quinolinic acid (QuinA), a neurotoxic kynurenine pathway metabolite, acutely following concussion in football players with prior concussion. Similarly, work from our group and others has shown that increased functional connectivity strength, assessed using resting state fMRI, occurs following concussion and is associated with worse concussion-related symptoms and outcome.

A Prospective Study of Acute Blood-Based Biomarkers for Sport-Related Concussion.

Objective: Prospectively characterize changes in serum proteins following sport-related concussion and determine whether candidate biomarkers discriminate concussed athletes from controls and are associated with duration of symptoms following concussion.

Methods: High school and collegiate athletes were enrolled between 2015 and 2018. Blood was collected at preinjury baseline and within 6 hours (early acute) and at 24 to 48 hours (late acute) following concussion in football players (n = 106), matched uninjured football players (n = 84), and non-contact-sport athletes (n = 50).

Prospective study of the effects of sport-related concussion on serum kynurenine pathway metabolites.

Reports of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disease in former athletes have increased public concern about the acute and chronic effects of sport-related concussions (SRC). The biological factors underlying individual differences in the psychiatric sequalae of SRC and their role in potential long-term negative outcomes have not been determined. One understudied biological consequence of the known inflammatory response to concussion is the activation of a key immunoregulatory pathway, the kynurenine pathway (KP).

Acute elevation of serum inflammatory markers predicts symptom recovery after concussion.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that acute elevations in serum inflammatory markers predict symptom recovery after sport-related concussion (SRC).

Methods: High school and collegiate football players (n = 857) were prospectively enrolled. Forty-one athletes with concussion and 43 matched control athletes met inclusion criteria.