Biomarkers of brain injury following an American football game: A pilot study

The goals of this study were to determine if the biomarkers of head injury, NSE and S100B, increased in serum following an American football game. Serum creatine kinase (CK) and cortisol levels were also measured to determine muscle damage and stress caused by the football game. NSE, S100B, CK, and cortisol were measured in the serum of 17 football players before and after a collegiate junior varsity football game. No head injuries were reported by the players, athletic training staff, or coaches yet both NSE (Pre-game: 7.0 μg•L^-1 ± 2.2 versus Post-game: 13.1 μg•L^-1 ± 7.0, P <0.001) and S100B (Pre-game: 0.013 μg•L^-1 ± 0.012 versus Post-game: 0.069 μg•L^-1 ± 0.036, P <0.001) increased significantly. Neither CK (Pre-game: 90.5 U•L^-1 ± 41.9 versus Post-game: 120.2 U•L^-1 ± 62.7, P = 0.116) nor cortisol (Pre-game: 369.2 nmoles•L-1 ± 159.8 versus Post-game: 353.0 nmoles•L^-1 ± 170.5, P = 0.349) increased significantly following the football game. There was little correlation found between S100B and body mass (R2 = 0.029) or CK (R2 = 0.352) levels. Although serum NSE and S100B increase as a result of playing in an American football game, the values are similar to or lower than levels found following competition in other contact and non-contact sports. Furthermore, the lack of correlation between S100B and body mass or CK indicates that S100B increases independent of body mass or muscle injury.