Background: Sport-related mild head injuries/concussions are common in pole vault and high jump players but there is no study that was designed specifically to investigate the biochemical markers of brain damage.
S-100β serum levels may elucidate whether these games causes minor brain damage by increasing serum concentration and to shed some light on its possible use for assessment of concussed athletes. The aim of the present study was to investigate S-100β in the blood of elite pole vault versus high jump players before and after a competitive game and to relate the changes in concentration to head trauma
Material and Methods: Ten male elite pole vaults versus another ten high jump players participated in the national field and track games for youth under 20 years held in the Olympic centre (13 – 15 /4/2011) constituted subjects of this study, their serum protein was assayed before and after the game events. Skills evaluation test was performed before and after the competition.
Results: Changes in serum concentrations of S-100β (post-game – pre-game values) were statistically significant after both games. In pole vault, there was a significant correlation between the changes in S-100β (post-game – pre-game values). For pole vault players, S-100β was increased more than for the high jump players.
Conclusions: S-100β was released into the blood of the players as a consequence of game-related activities and events. S-100β analysis as a biochemical marker for brain damage seems to have the potential to become a valuable additional tool for assessment of the degree of brain tissue damage in sport-related head trauma and probably for decision making about inhibiting/returning to play.