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UCLA uses brain imaging to scan for injury in retired NFL players

University of California, Los Angeles, researchers have used brain imaging to identify abnormal tau proteins associated with traumatic brain injury in retired National Football League players, marking the first time a brain imaging tool was used to scan for this type of injury in living athletes. The researchers said they hope that the method will lead to earlier diagnosis of brain disorders.

“Early detection of tau proteins may help us to understand what is happening sooner in the brains of these injured athletes,” study researcher Gary Small, MD, director of the UCLA Longevity Center, said in a press release. “Our findings may also guide us in developing strategies and interventions to protect those with early symptoms, rather than try to repair damage once it becomes extensive.”

Small and colleagues used positron emission tomography scans on five retired NFL players aged 45 to 73 years who had histories of concussions and reported mood and cognitive symptoms. The scans were compared with those of five healthy males matched for age, education and body mass index. Participants received intravenous injections of a chemical marker, referred to as FDDNP, which binds to deposits of amyloid plaque and tau protein tangles. The accumulation of tau protein tangles has been associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Initial results indicated that the retired NFL players had significantly higher FDDNP levels in the amygdala and subcortical regions of the brain, which are known to produce tau deposits after trauma. The FDDNP binding patterns in the brains of the retired NFL players were consistent with the tau deposits that have been observed in autopsies investigating chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

According to the researchers, the study is limited by the small sample size and lack of autopsy confirmation, but if additional, larger studies confirm the findings, positron emission tomography scans using FDDNP may present a new means for premorbid identification of neurodegeneration in athletes.

“It is the holy grail of [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] research to be able to identify those who are suffering from the syndrome early, while they’re still alive,” study researcher Julian Bailes, MD, said in the press release.

Disclosure: UCLA owns the patent on the approach used in the study. Small and study researcher Jorge R. Barrio, PhD, both of whom invented the approach, have received royalties and may continue to receive royalties on future sales. Small reports financial relationships with Janssen, Lilly, Novartis and Pfizer. Barrio reports financial relationships with Nihon Medi-Physics Company, Bristol-Meyer Squibb, PETNet Pharmaceuticals and Siemens.