Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
J Neuroimaging. 2021 Nov;31(6):1146-1155. doi: 10.1111/jon.12909. Epub 2021 Jul 19.
Magnetic resonance (MR) biomarkers are emerging for sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the effect of play time has not been characterized. Our goal was to characterize brain and inflammatory marker changes as a function of play time.
Nine male players (21±2 years old) from a single collegiate basketball team were included. MR imaging (MRI), MR spectroscopy, and plasma were collected pre, mid, and postseason. Game time played was calculated for each subject. Changes in brain volume, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), metabolites (normalized to total creatine, tCr), temperature, structural and functional connectivity, and inflammatory markers were quantified.
Myo-inositol/tCr in the left frontal white matter and brain temperature in the left frontal lobe varied significantly between time points. Glutamate (Glu/tCr) in the right frontal white matter and N-acetylaspartate in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) were negatively associated with minutes played. Midseason play time was associated with stronger blood-oxygen-level-dependent correlations between PCC and occipital areas, and weaker correlations between PCC and superior frontal connectivity. PCC Glu/tCr was positively associated with connectivity between the PCC and posterior supramarginal gyrus at preseason and with connectivity across time points among several right hemisphere regions. Volume, DTI, and inflammatory markers did not vary significantly.
Given that MR parameters vary with game play time in the absence of diagnosed injury, play time should be considered as a factor in sports-related TBI research.
磁共振（MR）生物标志物正在成为运动相关性创伤性脑损伤（TBI）的新兴研究手段，但目前尚未对其与运动时间的关系进行研究。本研究旨在探讨运动时间对脑和炎症标志物的影响。
纳入某大学篮球队的 9 名男性运动员（年龄 21±2 岁）。在赛季前、赛季中和赛季末分别采集磁共振成像（MRI）、磁共振波谱和血浆样本。计算每位运动员的比赛时间。定量分析脑体积、扩散张量成像（DTI）、代谢物（与总肌酸比，tCr）、脑温、结构和功能连接以及炎症标志物的变化。
左额白质的肌醇/tCr 和左额叶的脑温在不同时间点有显著差异。右额白质的谷氨酸（Glu/tCr）和后扣带回皮层（PCC）的 N-乙酰天门冬氨酸与运动时间呈负相关。赛季中期的运动时间与 PCC 与枕叶区之间的血氧水平依赖相关性增强，以及 PCC 与额上回之间的相关性减弱有关。PCC 的 Glu/tCr 与 PCC 与后缘上回之间的连接性在赛季前呈正相关，与多个右侧大脑区域之间的连接性在整个时间点上呈正相关。脑体积、DTI 和炎症标志物无明显变化。
鉴于在没有诊断性损伤的情况下，MR 参数会随比赛时间而变化，因此在与运动相关的 TBI 研究中，应考虑运动时间这一因素。
