Blood Test Detects Brain Damage in Amateur Boxers

A blood test detected brain damage in amateur boxers even after a two-month break from boxing.

Blood samples were collected from 44 Turkish amateur boxers at the beginning of a training camp after a two-month break from boxing. The results were compared to those found in a healthy control group. Scientists analyzed several proteins that can be used to identify brain damage, and found that the levels of one protein, called neuron-specific enolase (NSE), were higher among the boxers than in the control group.

The study was conducted by investigators at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and the Erciyes University Medical School (Kayseri, Turkey). The findings also demonstrated that repeated blows to the head might damage the brain.

"The blows seem to lead to a deterioration of nerve cells that lasts for a relatively long time. It is important that this is made known to participants in sports that involve kicks and blows to the head and to parents who let their children participate," said Henrik Zetterberg, reader in psychiatry and neurochemistry at the Sahlgrenska Academy. "Their levels were high even after two months off from boxing. This indicates that the harmful processes in the brain continue even if the boxers have not recently experienced head trauma," he concluded.

This type of biomarker could be very useful in sports medicine to determine when an athlete should abstain from training and competition.

The study was published in the August 9, 2009 issue of the journal Brain Injury.

Related Links:
Sahlgrenska Academy
Erciyes University Medical School