The role of salivary vesicles as a potential inflammatory biomarker to detect traumatic brain injury in mixed martial artists

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is of significant concern in the realm of high impact contact sports, including mixed martial arts (MMA). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) travel between the brain and oral cavity and may be isolated from salivary samples as a noninvasive biomarker of TBI. Salivary EVs may h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-04, Vol.11 (1), p.8186-8186, Article 8186
Main Authors: Matuk, Rani, Pereira, Mandy, Baird, Janette, Dooner, Mark, Cheng, Yan, Wen, Sicheng, Rao, Shyam, Quesenberry, Peter, Raukar, Neha P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Biomarkers
Cognition
Extracellular vesicles
Gene expression
Head injuries
Humanities and Social Sciences
Inflammation
multidisciplinary
Oral cavity
Saliva
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Traumatic brain injury
Vesicles
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Summary:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is of significant concern in the realm of high impact contact sports, including mixed martial arts (MMA). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) travel between the brain and oral cavity and may be isolated from salivary samples as a noninvasive biomarker of TBI. Salivary EVs may highlight acute neurocognitive or neuropathological changes, which may be particularly useful as a biomarker in high impact sports. Pre and post-fight samples of saliva were isolated from 8 MMA fighters and 7 from controls. Real-time PCR of salivary EVs was done using the TaqMan Human Inflammatory array. Gene expression profiles were compared pre-fight to post-fight as well as pre-fight to controls. Largest signals were noted for fighters sustaining a loss by technical knockout (higher impact mechanism of injury) or a full match culminating in referee decision (longer length of fight), while smaller signals were noted for fighters winning by joint or choke submission (lower impact mechanism as well as less time). A correlation was observed between absolute gene information signals and fight related markers of head injury severity. Gene expression was also significantly different in MMA fighters pre-fight compared to controls. Our findings suggest that salivary EVs as a potential biomarker in the acute period following head injury to identify injury severity and can help elucidate pathophysiological processes involved in TBI.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-87180-4