Matthew Gfeller Center, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2207 Stallings Evans Sports Medicine Complex, Campus Box 8700, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
Human Movement Science Curriculum, Department of Allied Health Sciences, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2021 Oct;49(10):2734-2746. doi: 10.1007/s10439-021-02764-5. Epub 2021 Mar 22.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sport participation, concussion history, and age of first exposure to football on preseason cerebrovascular function in adolescent athletes. Athletes (n = 53, age = 15.8 ± 1.2 years) were examined based on three exposure groupings: (1) sport participation (football vs. non-collision), (2) concussion history (none vs. ≥ 1), and (3) age of first exposure (football participants only). Transcranial Doppler assessed cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and neurovascular coupling (NVC), and separate independent samples t-tests evaluated group differences in CVR and NVC outcomes. Separate univariate linear regressions determined how age of first exposure related to CVR and NVC outcomes. Linear mixed effects models assessed group differences in CVR and NVC relative response curves. Differential response to NVC visual task response was significantly greater in non-collision sport athletes (F = 38.69, p < 0.0001) and athletes without a concussion history (F = 25.23, p < 0.0001). Older age of first exposure significantly predicted reduced breath-holding CVR response (F = 2.92, p = 0.03). Healthy adolescent athletes have similar pre-season cerebrovascular function despite different sport participation and concussion history. However, age of first exposure may predict CVR in adolescent football athletes. Developmental literature identifies cerebrovascular function as dynamically changing throughout adolescence. Our study provides fundamental data informing the clinical meaningfulness of short- and long-term physiological function changes.
本研究旨在探究运动参与、脑震荡史和首次接触足球的年龄对青少年运动员赛前脑血管功能的影响。根据三种暴露分组对运动员（n=53，年龄=15.8±1.2 岁）进行检查：（1）运动参与（足球与非碰撞运动），（2）脑震荡史（无 vs. ≥1 次），以及（3）首次接触足球的年龄（仅足球参与者）。经颅多普勒超声评估脑血管反应性（CVR）和神经血管耦合（NVC），并通过独立样本 t 检验评估 CVR 和 NVC 结果的组间差异。分别进行单变量线性回归以确定首次接触足球的年龄与 CVR 和 NVC 结果的关系。线性混合效应模型评估 CVR 和 NVC 相对反应曲线的组间差异。对 NVC 视觉任务反应的差异反应在非碰撞运动运动员中显著更大（F=38.69，p<0.0001），在无脑震荡史的运动员中也显著更大（F=25.23，p<0.0001）。首次接触足球的年龄越大，屏气 CVR 反应越低（F=2.92，p=0.03）。尽管运动参与和脑震荡史不同，健康的青少年运动员在赛前仍具有相似的脑血管功能。然而，首次接触足球的年龄可能预测青少年足球运动员的 CVR。发育文献表明，脑血管功能在整个青春期内都在发生动态变化。本研究提供了基本数据，为短期和长期生理功能变化的临床意义提供了信息。
