Loading...
U.S.-based researchers report that they might have developed a diagnostic test for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Previous work suggested that a certain protein (CCL11) is enriched in the frontal cortex and spinal fluid (CSF) of patients with CTE. The investigators compared postmortem brain samples and CSF of 23 American football players, 50 people with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer disease (AD), and 18 nonathlete, non-AD controls. Neither people with AD nor controls had histories of head trauma.
Compared with CCL11 levels in AD patients and controls, CCL11 levels in football players were marginally higher in the frontal cortex (P=0.05) and in the CSF (P=0.07), after adjusting for age and other confounders. Levels of CCL11 in b…