Citation

Hunter LE, Freudenberg-Hua Y, Davies P, Kim M, Fleysher R, Stewart WF, Lipton RB, Lipton ML. Front. Neurol. 2019; 10: e1297.

Affiliation

The Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, The Bronx, NY, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fneur.2019.01297

PMID

31920921

PMCID

PMC6918922

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential effect modifying role of the BDNF Val⁶⁶Met polymorphism on the association of soccer heading with white matter microstructure. We studied 312 players enrolled in the ongoing Einstein Soccer Study, a longitudinal study of amateur soccer player in New York City and surrounding areas. At enrollment and 2 years later, total heading in the prior 12 months (12-mo.) was estimated using an established self-report instrument and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) logistic regression models were employed to test effect modification by the BDNF Val⁶⁶Met polymorphism on the association between 12-mo. heading exposure and DTI. We identified a significant interaction of 12-mo heading^*BDNF Val⁶⁶Met genotype on the presence of low Radial Diffusivity, a DTI marker associated with myelination. Only Met (+) players demonstrated significantly reduced odds of low RD [OR (95 % CI): -2.36 (-3.53, -1.19)] associated with the highest vs. lowest quartile of 12-mo heading exposure. BDNF Val⁶⁶Met (+) soccer players with long-term exposure to high levels of heading exhibit less low Radial Diffusivity, suggesting impaired re-myelination may be a substrate of the previously reported association between heading and poor functional outcomes in soccer players.

Copyright © 2019 Hunter, Freudenberg-Hua, Davies, Kim, Fleysher, Stewart, Lipton and Lipton.

Language: en

Keywords

BDNF Val66Met; diffusion tensor imaging; mild traumatic brain injury; myelination and re-myelination; soccer heading