Next-Day Serum Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Levels to Aid Diagnosis of Sport-Related Concussion

Abstract The diagnostic utility of blood glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in sport-related concussion (SRC) is unclear. This study measured serum GFAP at either 16-24 hours (h), 24-32h, or 36-52h post-SRC in 156 Australian football players and compared levels with 98 control players without SRC. Median GFAP levels were higher in SRC cases at 16-24h (124.7 pg/mL; p<0.001) and 24-32h (96.2 pg/mL; p<0.001) compared to controls (66.0 pg/mL), but not at 36-52h (62.8 pg/mL). GFAP had an area under the curve of 0.83 at 16-24h and 0.72 at 24-32h. Serum GFAP at 16-24h can be a useful aid in SRC diagnosis. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study was funded by Monash University and grants awarded to TJO (APP1176426) and SJM (APP2002689) by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Human Research Ethics Committees of Monash University and Alfred Health gave ethical approval for this work. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors