Study of Biomarkers in Saliva as Indicators for Diagnosis of Sports Related Concussion and Return to Play

Abstract

Biomarkers as indicators for the diagnosis of sports related concussion have not been established. The purpose of this study was to analyze saliva samples from student American football players for microRNA and protein expression before and after concussion injury and during recovery, and to identify biomarkers in saliva as indicators of concussion diagnosis and recovery.

Six samples were analyzed before concussion （Pre）， nine samples during concussion （Post）， and three samples during concussion recovery （Rec）．MicroRNA extraction and protein mass spectrometry were performed on these samples to analyze and identify biomarkers whose expression changed at each phase. The results showed that the expression of SPRR1A （small proline-rich repeat protein1A） protein, which is considered to be related to nerve regeneration, increased significantly from Pre to Post and decreased from Post to Rec, suggesting that it may be a biomarker in saliva in sports related concussion.