A brain protein, S100B, which may soon be detected by a simple finger-stick blood test, accurately distinguishes a sports-related concussion from sports exertion, according to a study of college athletes published in PLoS ONE by Jeffrey J. Bazarian, MD.
Bazarian and others have been investigating the use of S100B, a well-accepted biomarker for traumatic brain injury, for on-field diagnoses of head injuries. In Europe, it is already being used to decide who is at high risk for intracranial bleeding and in need of head CT scanning. However, the obstacle to using S100B to diagnose sports concussions has been the observation that brain protein levels tend to rise slightly after physical exertion. Therefore, scientists must first have the ability to separate the effects of physical exertion from concussion when looking at S100B levels in the blood.
In this study, 46 athletes completed preseason baseline testing for S100B. Researchers re-tested 30 of them after exertion and found that their S100B levels rose on average only about 2% compared to baseline. Twenty-two of the 46 athletes suffered clinically confirmed concussions. Of those 22 athletes, 17 underwent S100B testing within three hours of injury. Results showed their S100B levels soared an average of about 81% compared to baseline. Bazarian and his colleagues concluded that in these athletes a rise in S100B levels greater than 45% was nearly diagnostic of concussion. Read the article.
