1. Decreased myelin proteins in brain donors exposed to football-related repetitive head impacts
- Author
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Alosco, Michael L, Ly, Monica, Mosaheb, Sydney, Saltiel, Nicole, Uretsky, Madeline, Tripodis, Yorghos, Martin, Brett, Palmisano, Joseph, Delano-Wood, Lisa, Bondi, Mark W, Meng, Gaoyuan, Xia, Weiming, Daley, Sarah, Goldstein, Lee E, Katz, Douglas I, Dwyer, Brigid, Daneshvar, Daniel H, Nowinski, Christopher, Cantu, Robert C, Kowall, Neil W, Stern, Robert A, Alvarez, Victor E, Mez, Jesse, Huber, Bertrand Russell, McKee, Ann C, and Stein, Thor D
- Subjects
Biological Psychology ,Psychology ,Acquired Cognitive Impairment ,Brain Disorders ,Neurodegenerative ,Neurosciences ,Neurological ,Good Health and Well Being ,myelin ,cerebrovascular disease ,chronic traumatic encephalopathy ,repetitive head impacts ,white matter ,Clinical sciences ,Biological psychology - Abstract
American football players and other individuals exposed to repetitive head impacts can exhibit a constellation of later-life cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. While tau-based diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy can underpin certain symptoms, contributions from non-tau pathologies from repetitive head impacts are increasingly recognized. We examined cross-sectional associations between myelin integrity using immunoassays for myelin-associated glycoprotein and proteolipid protein 1 with risk factors and clinical outcomes in brain donors exposed to repetitive head impacts from American football. Immunoassays for myelin-associated glycoprotein and proteolipid protein 1 were conducted on dorsolateral frontal white matter tissue samples of 205 male brain donors. Proxies of exposure to repetitive head impacts included years of exposure and age of first exposure to American football play. Informants completed the Functional Activities Questionnaire, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (Behavioral Regulation Index), and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11. Associations between myelin-associated glycoprotein and proteolipid protein 1 with exposure proxies and clinical scales were tested. Of the 205 male brain donors who played amateur and professional football, the mean age was 67.17 (SD = 16.78), and 75.9% (n = 126) were reported by informants to be functionally impaired prior to death. Myelin-associated glycoprotein and proteolipid protein 1 correlated with the ischaemic injury scale score, a global indicator of cerebrovascular disease (r = -0.23 and -0.20, respectively, Ps < 0.01). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy was the most common neurodegenerative disease (n = 151, 73.7%). Myelin-associated glycoprotein and proteolipid protein 1 were not associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy status, but lower proteolipid protein 1 was associated with more severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (P = 0.03). Myelin-associated glycoprotein and proteolipid protein 1 were not associated with other neurodegenerative disease pathologies. More years of football play was associated with lower proteolipid protein 1 [beta = -2.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-4.52, -0.38]] and compared with those who played
- Published
- 2023