{
  "abstract": "Background Repetitive head impacts in former contact sport athletes are associated with cognitive impairment, accelerated cerebral atrophy and risk of neurodegenerative disease. Epigenetic clocks derived from age-associated DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles may capture accelerated biological ageing in neurodegenerative conditions; however, their application in former athletes remains unexplored. Here we aim to explore the application of epigenetic clocks as a measure of accelerated biological ageing in a cohort of former athletes.Methods In 126 former athletes (96% male; mean age: 54.5±14.4 years; mean concussions: 6.8±6.7), we examined associations of brain volumes, plasma neurofilament light levels and cognitive/behavioural scores with DNAmAge-acceleration, AgeAccelResidual and DNAmFitAge-acceleration.Results We only found an association between the number of concussions and DNAmFitAge-acceleration (p=0.003, B=0.46, R²=0.063), indicating that every two additional concussions were associated with a 5-year increase in DNAmFitAge-acceleration. There was also a trend towards an association between years of play and DNAmAge-acceleration in older athletes.Conclusions These preliminary findings suggest that specific epigenetic clock measures may serve as early markers of biological ageing related to repetitive head impacts.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada",
        "Department of Neurology, Neurology and Neurological Rehabilitation Center, Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Centre), Clinical Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Research, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China",
        "State Key Laboratory of Cardiology and Medical Innovation Center, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xuelin Tang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada",
        "Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Vishaal Sumra"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Christine Sato"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Danielle Moreno"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Mozhgan Khodadadi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Nusrat Sadia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Carmen Wong"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Brenda Colella"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Robin E A Green"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Janet Ta"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden",
        "Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Kaj Blennow"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden",
        "Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden",
        "UK Dementia Research Institute, UCL, London, UK",
        "Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL, London, UK",
        "Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Clear Water Bay, China",
        "Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA",
        "Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconson, USA",
        "Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science, Banglore, India"
      ],
      "name": "Henrik Zetterberg"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Richard Wennberg"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Charles H Tator"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, Neurology and Neurological Rehabilitation Center, Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Centre), Clinical Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Research, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China",
        "State Key Laboratory of Cardiology and Medical Innovation Center, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China",
        "Institute for Advanced Study, Tongji University, Shanghai, China"
      ],
      "name": "Ming Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada",
        "Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Ekaterina Rogaeva"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada",
        "Canadian Concussion Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada",
        "Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Maria Carmela Tartaglia"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The study of epigenetic clocks in former professional contact sports athletes with repetitive head impacts",
  "uid": "c55d5bb9-91a1-588c-93df-74f8aa453d0f"
}