ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2020
Systemic inflammation moderates the association of prior concussion with hippocampal volume and episodic memory in high school and collegiate athletes.
Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of oral contraceptive use in associations of concussion history with kynurenine pathway metabolites, inflammation, and psychological symptoms in female athletes.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Article
- Effect of Obese Body Mass Index on Clinical Outcomes and Inflammatory Blood Biomarkers following Sport-Related Concussion in Collegiate Athletes and Military Cadets: Findings from the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Long-term neurobehavioral and neuroimaging outcomes in athletes with prior concussion(s) and head impact exposure.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2025Review
- Does white matter and vascular injury from repetitive head impacts lead to a novel pattern on T2 FLAIR MRI? A hypothesis proposal and call for research.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Impact of prior exposures on biomarkers of blast during military tactical training.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Whole blood stimulation provides preliminary evidence of altered immune function following SRC.BMC immunology · 2024Observational
- Alzheimer's pathology is associated with altered cognition, brain volume, and plasma biomarker patterns in traumatic encephalopathy syndrome.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2023Article
- Inflammatory cytokines associated with mild traumatic brain injury and clinical outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Association of Head Impact Exposure with White Matter Macrostructure and Microstructure Metrics.Journal of neurotrauma · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is a need to determine why prior concussion has been associated with adverse outcomes in some retired and active athletes. We examined whether serum inflammatory markers moderate the associations of prior concussion with hippocampal volumes and neurobehavioral functioning in active high school and collegiate athletes.
methodsAthletes (N = 201) completed pre-season clinical testing and serum collection (C-reactive protein [CRP]; Interleukin-6 [IL]-6; IL-1 receptor antagonist [RA]) and in-season neuroimaging. Linear mixed-effects models examined associations of prior concussion with inflammatory markers, self-reported symptoms, neurocognitive function, and hippocampal volumes. Models examined whether inflammatory markers moderated associations of concussion history and hippocampal volume and/or clinical measures.
resultsConcussion history was significantly associated with higher symptom severity, p = 0.012, but not hippocampal volume or inflammatory markers (ps > 0.05). A significant interaction of prior concussion and CRP was observed for hippocampal volume, p = 0.006. Follow-up analyses showed that at high levels of CRP, athletes with two or more prior concussions had smaller hippocampal volume compared to athletes without prior concussion, p = 0.008. There was a significant interaction between prior concussion and levels of IL-1RA on memory scores, p = 0.044, i.e., at low levels of IL-1RA, athletes with two or more concussions had worse memory performance than those without prior concussion (p = 0.014).
conclusionFindings suggest that certain markers of systemic inflammation moderate the association between prior concussion and hippocampal volume and episodic memory performance. Current findings highlight potential markers for predicting at-risk individuals and identify therapeutic targets for mitigating the long-term adverse consequences of cumulative concussion.
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