Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Ontario, Toronto, Canada.
Division of Neurology, Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Eur J Neurol. 2020 Jul;27(7):1170-1177. doi: 10.1111/ene.14251. Epub 2020 May 8.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate serum neurofilament light chain (NF-L) levels in former professional contact sports athletes with multiple concussions (ExPro) as a potential biomarker of neurodegeneration and predictor of white-matter (WM) abnormality progression.
Concentrations of NF-L in the serum of fifty-two cognitively normal ExPro and twenty-one healthy controls (HC) with no history of concussions were measured using single molecule array (Simoa) technology. Both groups underwent neuroimaging at the time of serum collection. Eighteen of the participants in the ExPro underwent follow-up imaging after 2 years.
Levels of serum NF-L were not significantly different between the ExPro and HC. However, in the ExPro group, NF-L levels were positively correlated with the mean diffusivity (MD) of corpus callosum (CC) and fornix, and total ventricular volume. Moreover, NF-L levels in the ExPro group at the first visit were positively correlated with the amount of increase in CC MD at the 2-year follow-up.
NF-L levels reflect neuronal changes in the ExPro group and predict the extent of decrease in white matter integrity over time. Serum NF-L might be a biomarker of neurodegeneration and WM abnormality progression in ExPro.
背景/目的：本研究旨在评估曾从事职业接触性运动且多次脑震荡的前职业运动员（ExPro）的血清神经丝轻链（NF-L）水平，以作为神经退行性变的潜在生物标志物和预测白质（WM）异常进展的指标。
采用单分子阵列（Simoa）技术测量了 52 名认知正常的 ExPro 和 21 名无脑震荡史的健康对照组（HC）的血清 NF-L 浓度。两组在采集血清时均进行了神经影像学检查。18 名 ExPro 参与者在 2 年后进行了随访影像学检查。
ExPro 和 HC 之间血清 NF-L 水平无显著差异。然而，在 ExPro 组中，NF-L 水平与胼胝体（CC）和穹窿的平均弥散度（MD）以及总脑室容积呈正相关。此外，ExPro 组在初次就诊时的 NF-L 水平与 2 年随访时 CC MD 增加量呈正相关。
NF-L 水平反映了 ExPro 组神经元的变化，并预测了 WM 完整性随时间的降低程度。血清 NF-L 可能是 ExPro 神经退行性变和 WM 异常进展的生物标志物。
