Effects of Mycobacterium vaccae NCTC 11659 and Lipopolysaccharide Challenge on Polarization of Murine BV-2 Microglial Cells

Previous studies have shown that the in vivo administration of soil-derived bacteria with anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties, such as Mycobacterium vaccae NCTC 11659, can prevent a stress-induced shift toward an inflammatory M1 microglial immunophenotype and microglial priming in the central nervous system (CNS). It remains unclear whether M. vaccae NCTC 11659 can act directly on microglia to mediate these effects. This study was designed to determine the effects of M. vaccae NCTC 11659 on the polarization of naïve BV-2 cells, a murine microglial cell line, and BV-2 cells subsequently challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Briefly, murine BV-2 cells were exposed to 100 µg/mL whole-cell, heat-killed M. vaccae NCTC 11659 or sterile borate-buffered saline (BBS) vehicle, followed, 24 h later, by exposure to 0.250 µg/mL LPS (Escherichia coli 0111: B4; n = 3) in cell culture media vehicle (CMV) or a CMV control condition. Twenty-four hours after the LPS or CMV challenge, cells were harvested to isolate total RNA. An analysis using the NanoString platform revealed that, by itself, M. vaccae NCTC 11659 had an "adjuvant-like" effect, while exposure to LPS increased the expression of mRNAs encoding proinflammatory cytokines, chemokine ligands, the C3 component of complement, and components of inflammasome signaling such as Nlrp3. Among LPS-challenged cells, M. vaccae NCTC 11659 had limited effects on differential gene expression using a threshold of 1.5-fold change. A subset of genes was assessed using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR), including Arg1, Ccl2, Il1b, Il6, Nlrp3, and Tnf. Based on the analysis using real-time RT-PCR, M. vaccae NCTC 11659 by itself again induced "adjuvant-like" effects, increasing the expression of Il1b, Il6, and Tnf while decreasing the expression of Arg1. LPS by itself increased the expression of Ccl2, Il1b, Il6, Nlrp3, and Tnf while decreasing the expression of Arg1. Among LPS-challenged cells, M. vaccae NCTC 11659 enhanced LPS-induced increases in the expression of Nlrp3 and Tnf, consistent with microglial priming. In contrast, among LPS-challenged cells, although M. vaccae NCTC 11659 did not fully prevent the effects of LPS relative to vehicle-treated control conditions, it increased Arg1 mRNA expression, suggesting that M. vaccae NCTC 11659 induces an atypical microglial phenotype. Thus, M. vaccae NCTC 11659 acutely (within 48 h) induced immune-activating and microglial-priming effects when applied directly to murine BV-2 microglial cells, in contrast to its long-term anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects observed on the CNS when whole-cell, heat-killed preparations of M. vaccae NCTC 11659 were given peripherally in vivo.

Effect of the 2018 NCAA Kickoff Rule Change on Concussion Rates in Collegiate Football: Results From a Division 1 Conference

Background

Kickoff plays in American football are associated with an increased risk of concussion compared with other play types. In 2018, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Rules Committee altered the kickoff rules so a fair catch inside the 25-yard line results in a touchback, with the ensuing drive starting on the 25-yard line. The intention was to decrease the number of kickoff returns with a corresponding decrease in the rate of concussions on kickoff plays.

Purpose

To determine whether the 2018 rule changes had the intended effects in an NCAA Division 1 Conference.

Study Design

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods

The study population included football athletes in the NCAA Pacific-12 (Pac-12) Conference. Data on the total number of plays, punts, kickoffs, touchbacks, and fair catches were obtained for all in-conference games from the 2016 to 2021 seasons. The number of game concussions and the play type were provided by each conference institution. Incidence of concussions occurring during kickoff plays before (2016-2017) and after (2018-2021) the rule change were compared with a difference-in-difference analysis using Poisson general linear models.

Results

There were 242 concussions in 108,774 total plays in the study period, with an overall concussion rate of 2.2 per 1000 plays. The percentage of touchbacks increased significantly from 45% to 51% (P < .001) and the percentage of fair catches increased from 1% to 7% (P < .001) from before to after the rule change. Kickoffs accounted for 6% of plays both before and after the rule change and 11% of concussions before and 14% after the change. The mean annual concussion rate (per 1000 plays) on kickoffs was 3.42 before and 5.31 after the rule change (rate difference: 1.89; 95% confidence interval, -1.22 to 5.01).

Conclusion

Touchbacks and fair catches increased after the kickoff rule change, but there was not a corresponding decrease in concussions during kickoff plays as anticipated. Concussions occurring during other football plays remained stable.

Pac-12 Health Analytics Program: An Innovative Approach to Health Care Operations, Data Analytics, and Clinical Research in Intercollegiate Athletics

The objective of this study was to describe the purpose, methods, and effects of the Pac-12 Health Analytics Program (HAP) approach on sports medicine informatics, research, analytics, and health care operations. Sports injury-surveillance initiatives have been supporting the clinical research community in sports medicine for nearly 4 decades. Whereas the initial systems tracked only a few sports, current surveillance programs have expanded to include entire professional and elite athlete organizations, providing important statistics on sports injury risk management. The HAP is a conference-wide data-sharing and-analytics program. It collects authorized, deidentified clinical data, encompassing multiple domains of sports medicine injury management, including sports injuries and illnesses, concussions, risk exposure, and COVID-19 testing elements. The HAP provides clinicians with access to curated data to inform evidence-based practice and support local health care operations with respect to emerging sports injury trends. The HAP supplies approved research groups with access to a data repository that describes a homogeneous, elite intercollegiate athlete sample, thereby supporting nonresearch clinical initiatives as well as contributions to peer-reviewed research that can improve the health and well-being of Pac-12 student-athletes. The HAP is a novel approach to sports injury epidemiology and surveillance that has allowed the Pac-12 Conference to meet larger objectives regarding improving the student-athlete experience and clinical research among its member schools. Data quality control has improved the accuracy of the data and value to clinical athletic trainers within the conference. Curated dashboards displaying aggregated project data offer clinicians data-driven decision-making tools that help inform sports injury risk management. As of 2021, the HAP had supported more than 3 dozen data requests. These investigations have resulted in numerous peer-reviewed research contributions to the sports medicine community with findings that have great potential to improve the health and well-being of Pac-12 student-athletes.

Multicentre evaluation of anxiety and mood among collegiate student athletes with concussion

Objectives

Mental health problems are a premorbid and postinjury concern among college student athletes. Clinical phenotypes of anxiety and mood disruption are prevalent following mild traumatic brain injury, including concussion, a common sports injury. This work examined whether concussed student athletes with a history of mental health problems and higher symptoms of anxiety and mood disruption at baseline were more likely to have higher postinjury reports of mood and anxiety as well as prolonged resolution of postconcussive symptoms to near-baseline measures.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study of a multi-institutional database of standardised baseline and postinjury assessments among college student athletes. Anxiety/mood evaluation data among varsity college athletes from four institutions over 1 year were measured and compared at baseline and postconcussion recovery using descriptive statistics and multilevel/mixed-effects analysis.

Results

Data from 2248 student athletes were analysed, with 40.6% reporting at least one symptom of anxiety and/or mood disruption at baseline. Of the 150 distinct concussions, 94.7% reported symptoms of anxiety/mood disruption during recovery (recovery time=0-96 days). Higher anxiety/mood scores at baseline were significantly associated with higher scores following concussion (p<0.001). Recovery trajectories of anxiety/mood scores showed different patterns by sex and prolonged recovery.

Conclusion

Symptoms of anxiety and mood disruption are common at baseline among college student athletes. These students are at higher risk for symptomatology following injury, representing a screening cohort that may benefit from early counselling. Almost all student athletes will experience symptoms of anxiety and/or mood disruption following concussion.

Risk of Concussion After a Targeting Foul in Collegiate American Football

Background:

The targeting rule was adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2008 to discourage dangerous contact during collegiate American football competition. Although targeting rules have been emphasized as a means to reduce concussion rates, there is currently no evidence that targeting plays are higher risk for concussion than other plays in American football.

Purpose:

To compare the rate of concussion occurring during targeting versus nontargeting plays in American collegiate football.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Methods:

Concussions occurring in games in the 2016-2019 Pac-12 Conference were classified as having occurred during either (1) a play where a targeting penalty was called or (2) all other plays. Targeting plays were further categorized to either those in which the call was upheld or those overturned by the on-field official after replay review. The number of targeting plays and the total number of plays during games were also recorded. Concussion incidence (per 1000 plays) and risk ratios were calculated.

Results:

Overall, 538 games with 68,670 plays were reviewed, during which 213 concussions occurred (15 during plays where targeting was called and 198 on other plays) and 141 targeting penalties were called. The incidence of concussion was 106.4/1000 plays for targeting plays (including 141.2/1000 upheld targeting fouls and 53.6/1000 overturned targeting fouls) and 2.9/1000 plays for nontargeting plays. The risk of concussion during targeting plays was 36.9 (95% CI, 22.4-60.7) times greater than that for all other plays. The risk of concussion during targeting plays upheld was 49.0 (95% CI, 28.5-84.2) times greater than that for all other plays.

Conclusion:

Concussion risk was significantly higher during plays in which targeting was called, especially those in which targeting fouls were upheld.

Clinical Relevance:

This study supports eliminating or reducing targeting from American football. The results of this study suggest that players should be screened for concussion after targeting plays are called.

Association of Cardiac Arrest With Opioid Overdose in Transport

Introduction:

Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. It has been linked to respiratory depression and cardiac toxicity, both of which can lead to cardiac arrest. Despite this potential association, few studies have examined this relationship, particularly in transport to the hospital. The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a relationship between opioid overdose and cardiac arrest in transport.

Methods:

A sample (n = 1 000 000) was utilized from the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) from the year 2019. A logistic regression model was used to predict cardiac arrest from dispatch reason with gender, race, and age included as controls.

Results:

Overdose-related dispatch reason was associated with an increased likelihood of cardiac arrest in transport (Odds Ratio = 1.65, 95% Confidence Interval: [1.22, 2.22]).

Conclusions:

Opioid overdose is associated with an increased incidence of cardiac arrest in transport in the United States.

Pac-12 CARE-Affiliated Program: structure, methods and initial results

Sport-related concussion has garnered increasing scientific attention and research over the last decade. Collegiate student-athletes represent an important cohort in this field. As such, the Pac-12 CARE-Affiliated Program (CAP) was formed in 2017 as a regional hub of the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) consortium. CAP is multisite, prospective, longitudinal study that aims to improve student-athlete health by identifying factors associated with concussion incidence and recovery and using this knowledge to inform best clinical practices and policy decisions. CAP employed a staggered rollout across the Pac-12, with the first four institutions enrolling in fall 2018. After receiving institutional review board (IRB) approval, these institutions began consenting student-athletes to share clinical concussion and baseline data for research purposes. Athletes completed baseline testing that included a medical questionnaire, concussion history and a battery for clinical concussion assessments. Concussed student-athletes were given the same battery of assessments in addition to full injury and return to play reports. Clinicians at each university worked with a data coordinator to ensure appropriate reporting, and the Pac-12 Concussion Coordinating Unit at the University of Colorado Boulder provided oversight for quality control of the data study wide. During year 1, CAP consented 2181 student-athletes and tracked 140 concussions. All research was conducted with the appropriate IRB approval across the participating Pac-12 institutions. Data security and dissemination are managed by the Presagia Sports Athlete Electronic Health Record software (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and QuesGen Systems (San Francisco, California, USA).

Diagnostic accuracy and reliability of sideline concussion evaluation: a prospective, case-controlled study in college athletes comparing newer tools and established tests

OBJECTIVE

To assess diagnostic accuracy and reliability of sideline concussion tests in college athletes.

METHODS

Athletes completed baseline concussion tests including Post-Concussion Symptom Scale, Standardised Assessment of Concussion (SAC), modified Balance Error Scoring System (m-BESS), King-Devick test and EYE-SYNC Smooth Pursuits. Testing was repeated in athletes diagnosed acutely with concussion and compared to a matched teammate without concussion.

RESULTS

Data were collected on 41 concussed athletes and 41 matched controls. Test-retest reliability for symptom score and symptom severity assessed using control athletes was 0.09 (-0.70 to 0.88) and 0.08 (-1.00 to 1.00) (unweighted kappa). Intraclass correlations were SAC 0.33 (-0.02 to 0.61), m-BESS 0.33 (-0.2 to 0.60), EYE-SYNC Smooth Pursuit tangential variability 0.70 (0.50 to 0.83), radial variability 0.47 (0.19 to 0.69) and King-Devick test 0.71 (0.49 to 0.84). The maximum identified sensitivity/specificity of each test for predicting clinical concussion diagnosis was: symptom score 81%/94% (3-point increase), symptom severity score 91%/81% (3-point increase), SAC 44%/72% (2-point decline), m-BESS 40%/92% (5-point increase), King-Devick 85%/76% (any increase in time) and EYE-SYNC Smooth Pursuit tangential variability 48%/58% and radial variability 52%/61% (any increase). Adjusted area under the curve was: symptom score 0.95 (0.89, 0.99), symptom severity 0.95 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.99), SAC 0.66 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.79), m-BESS 0.71 (0.60, 0.83), King-Devick 0.78 (0.69, 0.87), radial variability 0.47 (0.34, 0.59), tangential variability 0.41 (0.30, 0.54) CONCLUSION: Test-retest reliability of most sideline concussion tests was poor in uninjured athletes, raising concern about the accuracy of these tests to detect new concussion. Symptom score/severity had the greatest sensitivity and specificity, and of the objective tests, the King-Devick test performed best.

Association of Adolescent Sport Participation With Cognition and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adulthood

Background:

Recent studies have associated sport-related concussion with depression and impaired cognitive ability later in life in former professional football players. However, population studies with two 1950s-era cohorts did not find an association between high school football participation and impaired cognition or depressive symptoms in late adulthood.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

This study assessed whether actual/intended participation in contact sports during adolescence had an adverse effect on participants’ cognition or depressive symptoms in early adulthood. We hypothesized that there would not be an association.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Methods:

This study used a subsample (n = 10,951) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally (United States) representative prospective cohort study following participants through 4 waves of data collection from 1994 through 2008. Participants were categorized as actual/intended participation in no sports, noncontact sports only, and contact sports. We constructed 6 multivariate and logistic regression models predicting word recall, number recall, modified Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, depression diagnosis, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts at wave IV as a function of sport participation during wave I. Sport participation was treated as a factor with the referent category noncontact sports. This analysis was repeated on a males-only sample (n = 5008). In the males-only analysis, participants were classified as actual/intended participation in no sports, noncontact sports, contact sports other than American football, and American football. The referent category remained noncontact sports.

Results:

Intention to participate in contact sports was not significantly associated with any of the outcomes in the full-sample analysis. Intention to participate in football was significantly associated with a reduced odds of depression diagnosis in adulthood (odds ratio, 0.70; P = .02) when compared with noncontact sports participation in the males-only sample. Football was not significantly associated with impaired cognitive ability, increased depressive symptoms, or increased suicide ideation.

Conclusion:

Actual/intended participation in contact sports during adolescence did not adversely affect Add Health participants’ cognition or depressive symptoms in young adulthood.

A novel cutoff for the waist-to-height ratio predicting metabolic syndrome in young American adults

Background

Recent studies have shown the enhanced diagnostic capability of the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) over BMI. However, while a structured cutoff hierarchy has been established for BMI, a rigorous analysis to define individuals as obese using the WHtR has not been performed on a sample of American adults. This study attempts to establish a cutoff for the WHtR using metabolic syndrome as the outcome.

Methods

The study sample consisted of individuals that were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The final sample for analysis consisted of 7 935 participants (3 469 males, 4 466 females) that were complete respondents for the variables of interest at Wave IV. The participants ranged from 24.55-33.60 years. Weighted and unweighted receiver operator characteristics (ROC) analyses were performed predicting metabolic syndrome from the WHtR. Cutoffs were chosen using the Youden index. The derived cutoffs were validated by logistic regression analysis on the Add Health participants and an external sample of 1 236 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Results

The ROC analysis resulted in a WHtR cutoff of 0.578 (Youden Index = 0.50) for the full sample of complete respondents, 0.578 (Youden Index = 0.55) for males only, and 0.580 (Youden Index = 0.50) for females only. The area under the curve was 0.798 (95 % CI (0.788, 0.809)) for the full sample of complete respondents, 0.833 (95 % CI (0.818, 0.848)) for males only, and 0.804 (95 % CI (0.791, 0.818)) for females only. Participants in the validation sample with a WHtR greater than the derived cutoff were more likely (Odds Ratio = 9.8, 95 % CI (6.2, 15.3)) to have metabolic syndrome than those that were not.

Conclusion

A WHtR cutoff of 0.580 is optimal for discriminating individuals with metabolic syndrome in two nationally representative samples of young adults. This cutoff is an improvement over a previously recommended cutoff of 0.5 as well as other cutoffs derived from international samples.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2964-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Breastfeeding is associated with waist-to-height ratio in young adults

Background

The current study investigated the association between breastfeeding and adult weight distribution using an emerging indicator of weight distribution, the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).

Methods

The study sample consisted of two subsamples of individuals that were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. One sample (n = 1 179) consisted of individuals from the sibling pair data. A second sample (n = 4 648) consisted of individuals that were not part of the paired data. Regression models were constructed to establish if there was a relationship between breastfeeding and two measures of weight distribution: WHtR and body mass index (BMI). Controls for parental socioeconomic status, maternal smoking, race, sex, age, birth weight, maternal BMI, genetic ancestry, and a genetic risk score (GRS) for obesity were included. In addition, a behavioral risk score (BRS) was constructed to control for other residual confounding factors.

Results

A significant, inverse relationship between breastfeeding and adult WHtR persisted in models constructed from the sibling pair sample (P = 0.002) and unrelated sample (P <0.0001). This association remained significant with the inclusion of ancestry principal components, GRS, and a measure of maternal obesity.

Conclusions

The moderate association between breastfeeding and weight distribution persists into adulthood while controlling for potential confounders. This paper also provides evidence that the WHtR may be a superior outcome measure to BMI in studies investigating breastfeeding and obesity.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2611-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Relationship between socioeconomic status and physical fitness in junior high school students

BACKGROUND

Research on physical fitness often regards socioeconomic status (SES) as a confounding factor. However, few studies investigate the impact of SES on fitness. This study investigated the impact of SES on physical fitness in both males and females, with an economic-based construct of SES.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 954 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from a public, urban, Illinois middle school. The students participated in the FITNESSGRAM battery of fitness assessments as part of physical education. Descriptive statistics were calculated for height, weight, age, and sex. Students were grouped as high or low SES depending on whether they qualified for the federal free lunch program. A multivariate analysis of variance controlled for age and stratified by sex compared the raw scores from the fitness test for low and high SES students. Odds ratios stratified by sex were calculated for the likelihood of not achieving the FITNESSGRAM Healthy Fitness Zone standards among SES groups.

RESULTS

Girls of the low SES group had significantly lower scores on the FITNESSGRAM assessments and were significantly less likely to achieve Healthy Fitness Zone status than the girls from the high SES groups. For boys, SES was a significant main effect for body composition but not for the other fitness tests conducted.

CONCLUSION

SES is related to physical fitness in girls but not in boys. A potential explanation for this is that boys are more likely to engage in vigorous leisure time activity regardless of SES than girls.