Inflammation appears to be an important component of concussion pathophysiology. However, its relationship to symptom burden is unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers measured in the blood of male and female athletes following a sport-related concussion (SRC). Forty athletes (n = 20 male, n = 20 female) from nine interuniversity sport teams at a single institution provided blood samples within one week of an SRC. Twenty inflammatory biomarkers were quantitated by immunoassay. The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool version 5 (SCAT-5) was used to evaluate symptoms. Partial least squares (PLS) analyses were used to evaluate the relationship(s) between biomarkers and symptoms. In males, a positive correlation between interferon (IFN)-γ and symptom severity was observed following SRC. The relationship between IFN-γ and symptoms was significant among all symptom clusters, with cognitive symptoms displaying the largest effect. In females, a significant negative relationship was observed between symptom severity and cytokines IFN-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and myeloperoxidase (MPO); a positive relationship was observed between symptom severity and MCP-4. Inflammatory mediators were significantly associated with all symptom clusters in females; the somatic symptom cluster displayed the largest effect. These results provide supportive evidence of a divergent relationship between inflammation and symptom burden in male and female athletes following SRC. Future investigations should be cognizant of the potentially sex-specific pathophysiology underlying symptom presentation.

中文翻译：

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脑震荡后男女运动员的症状负担与全身炎症之间的关系不同

炎症似乎是脑震荡病理生理学的重要组成部分。然而，其与症状负担的关系尚不清楚。因此，本研究的目的是评估运动相关脑震荡（SRC）后男性和女性运动员血液中测量的症状与炎症生物标志物之间的关系。来自同一机构九个校际运动队的 40 名运动员（n = 20 名男性，n = 20 名女性）在 SRC 后一周内提供了血液样本。通过免疫测定对二十种炎症生物标志物进行了定量。运动脑震荡评估工具版本 5 (SCAT-5) 用于评估症状。偏最小二乘（PLS）分析用于评估生物标志物与症状之间的关系。在男性中，SRC 后观察到干扰素 (IFN)-γ 与症状严重程度呈正相关。IFN-γ 与症状之间的关系在所有症状群中均显着，其中认知症状的影响最大。在女性中，症状严重程度与细胞因子 IFN-γ、肿瘤坏死因子 (TNF)-α 和髓过氧化物酶 (MPO) 之间存在显着负相关；症状严重程度与 MCP-4 之间存在正相关关系。炎症介质与女性的所有症状群显着相关；躯体症状群显示出最大的影响。这些结果提供了支持性证据，证明 SRC 后男性和女性运动员的炎症和症状负担之间存在不同的关系。未来的研究应该认识到症状表现背后潜在的性别特异性病理生理学。