Elevated Tau in Military Personnel Relates to Chronic Symptoms Following Traumatic Brain Injury.
Cassandra L Pattinson, Pashtun Shahim, Patricia Taylor and 8 others
PMID 31033745WHAT IT FOUND
Blood tau, amyloid-beta and neurofilament light did not differ significantly between military personnel and Veterans with and without TBI history.
In those with TBI, tau was linked to worse post-concussive and depression scores and NFL to hyperarousal. This is an association, not proof of cause.
Key findings
01There were no significant differences between TBI and control groups for tau, Aβ40, Aβ42, or NFL concentrations.
02Within the TBI group, tau was positively associated with total NSI and PHQ scores, and correlated with NSI-somatosensory and PCL-negative mood scores; NFL was correlated with PCL-hyperarousal scores.
03NFL showed a trend towards higher concentrations in participants with 3 or more TBIs compared with participants with 1-2 TBIs (p = .07).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The results are from an interim analysis of an ongoing recruitment and screening protocol. There was no neuroimaging or neuropsychological data. The sample was predominantly male. Participants were assessed at a single time point using retrospective self-report measures that cannot be objectively validated. The authors state that these limitations prevent establishing causation.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. No funding source is reported in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that blood tau, amyloid-beta, or NFL can diagnose TBI or explain chronic symptoms. The main group comparisons were not significant, and the symptom findings are single time point associations from an interim analysis.