A preliminary model of football-related neural stress that integrates metabolomics with transcriptomics and virtual reality

Nicole L. Vike; Sumra Bari; Khrystyna Stetsiv; Alexa Walter; Sharlene Newman; Keisuke Kawata; Jeffrey J. Bazarian; Zoran Martinovich; Eric A. Nauman; Thomas M. Talavage; Linda Papa; Semyon M. Slobounov; Hans C. Breiter

iScience (Jan 2022)

A preliminary model of football-related neural stress that integrates metabolomics with transcriptomics and virtual reality

Nicole L. Vike,
Sumra Bari,
Khrystyna Stetsiv,
Alexa Walter,
Sharlene Newman,
Keisuke Kawata,
Jeffrey J. Bazarian,
Zoran Martinovich,
Eric A. Nauman,
Thomas M. Talavage,
Linda Papa,
Semyon M. Slobounov,
Hans C. Breiter

Affiliations

Nicole L. Vike: Warren Wright Adolescent Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Sumra Bari: Warren Wright Adolescent Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Khrystyna Stetsiv: Warren Wright Adolescent Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Alexa Walter: Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA
Sharlene Newman: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Keisuke Kawata: Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Program in Neuroscience, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Jeffrey J. Bazarian: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Zoran Martinovich: Warren Wright Adolescent Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Eric A. Nauman: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Thomas M. Talavage: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Linda Papa: Department of Emergency Medicine, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, FL 32806, USA
Semyon M. Slobounov: Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA; Corresponding author
Hans C. Breiter: Warren Wright Adolescent Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Corresponding author

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 25, no. 1
p. 103483

Abstract

Read online

Summary: Research suggests contact sports affect neurological health. This study used permutation-based mediation statistics to integrate measures of metabolomics, neuroinflammatory miRNAs, and virtual reality (VR)-based motor control to investigate multi-scale relationships across a season of collegiate American football. Fourteen significant mediations (six pre-season, eight across-season) were observed where metabolites always mediated the statistical relationship between miRNAs and VR-based motor control (pSobelperm ≤ 0.05; total effect > 50%), suggesting a hypothesis that metabolites sit in the statistical pathway between transcriptome and behavior. Three results further supported a model of chronic neuroinflammation, consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction: (1) Mediating metabolites were consistently medium-to-long chain fatty acids, (2) tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolites decreased across-season, and (3) accumulated head acceleration events statistically moderated pre-season metabolite levels to directionally model post-season metabolite levels. These preliminary findings implicate potential mitochondrial dysfunction and highlight probable peripheral blood biomarkers underlying repetitive head impacts in otherwise healthy collegiate football athletes.

Published in iScience

ISSN: 2589-0042 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science
Website: http://www.cell.com/iscience/home

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords