AUTHOR=Vorn Rany , Naunheim Rosanne , Lai Chen , Wagner Chelsea , Gill Jessica M. 

TITLE=Elevated Axonal Protein Markers Following Repetitive Blast Exposure in Military Personnel

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=16

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.853616

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2022.853616

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>Blast exposures that occur during training are common in military personnel; however, the biomarkers that relate to these subtle injuries is not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the acute biomarkers related to blast injury in a cohort of military personnel exposure to blast-related training. Thirty-four military personnel who participated in the training program were included in this study. Blood samples were collected before and after repetitive blast-related training on days 2 (<italic>n</italic> = 19) and days 7 (<italic>n</italic> = 15). Serum concentration (pg/mL) of tau, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181) were measured using an ultrasensitive immunoassay platform. We observed that serum p-tau181 concentrations were elevated after exposed to repetitive blast on days 2 (z = −2.983, <italic>p</italic> = 0.003) and days 7 (z = −2.158, <italic>p</italic> = 0.031). Serum tau (z = −2.272, <italic>p</italic> = 0.023) and NfL (z = −2.158, <italic>p</italic> = 0.031) levels were significantly elevated after exposure to repetitive blasts on days 7. Our findings indicate that blast exposure affects serum biomarkers indicating axonal injury.</p>