The relationship of cognitive functions with brain damage markers, myokines and neurotrophic factors in amateur soccer players

Abstract

Concussive and subconcussive head impatcs in sports have drawn more attention in recent years. Thus, the cognitive ability of soccer players and its relationship with circulating levels of irisin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and neuronspecific enolase (NSE) were studied in this study. Fifteen amateur soccer players and 15 sedentary men volunteered to participate in this study. After evaluating the aerobic and anaerobic capacities of the participants, their cognitive performances were measured.Blood samples were obtained at rest, and the ELISA method was used to measure the concentrations of serum NSE, plasma BDNF, and irisin. There were no differences between groups in terms of cognitive abilities or serum NSE levels (P > 0.05). Plasma irisin (P = 0.019) and BDNF (P < 0.001) levels were higher in the soccer players than the sedentary subjects. There was a positive correlation between irisin and NSE (r = 0.461, P = 0.010) and BDNF (r = 0.405, P = 0.007) concentrations. General cognitive performance