New Study Finds Saliva Test Can Diagnose Concussion
A new technology that can diagnose a concussion on the field for elite athletes is called a “gamechanger” by researchers. Testing saliva samples from athletes who have just experienced a head injury will soon be used in high-impact sports where head injuries are common, like soccer, rugby, football, and ice hockey.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham, with partial-funding by the Rugby Football Union, have just published the study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
This three-year research project, which involved over a thousand professional men's rugby players, found that certain biomarkers found in saliva can show if a player is concussed. They also show how a player's body responds to the head trauma several hours to several days later.
The study's leading researcher, Dr. Valentina Di Pietro, reports that certain biomarkers found in saliva after an injury create the opportunity for a gentle and non-invasive clinical test. Researchers could develop the technology to make the test available on the field within the next 3-5 years.
Currently, the saliva samples require analysis in a lab. However, these lab reports could be used in elite rugby as early as next season.
Professor Antonio Belli, the study's senior author, said: “For the first time we have successfully identified that these specific salivary biomarkers can be used to indicate if a player has been concussed,”
“We now have a laboratory-based, non-invasive diagnostic test using saliva, which is a real gamechanger and provides an invaluable tool to help clinicians diagnose concussion more consistently and accurately. The test could be used not only in sport, from grassroots to professional levels, but also in healthcare and military settings. In community sports, these biomarkers may provide a diagnostic test that is comparable in accuracy to the level of assessment available in a professional sports setting.”
The biomarker identifiers found in the saliva of athletes with concussions are called microRNAs. They were discovered in 1993. These MicroRNAs are of great interest to researchers because the changes in them observed following a traumatic injury are precursors to the production of protein molecules currently tested for biomarkers. Because MicroRNAs are much smaller than protein molecules, they are a more sensitive approximation of neurotrauma.
Belli writes: “MicroRNAs are messages the cells transmit in response to an event, like a brain injury. These are codes the cells send to each other to say: ‘You don’t need these genes,’ or: ‘You do need these other genes,’ as a response. And the place where you find microRNAs most abundantly is saliva. Salivary glands are connected directly to the brain by nerves. We’re seeing this response within minutes of injury.”
Researchers say they plan to collect samples from rugby players in two elite men's competitions to get more data to expand the test and develop its use.
Additional studies are also needed to confirm the test for potential use in women, younger athletes, and other community sports players, researchers say.
Source: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/02/09/bjsports-2020-103274
