Issue 34.1 WINTER 2025 |
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“ Obesity is something that has been largely ignored when someone suffers from an mTBI ,” said lead author Shawn Eagle , Ph . D ., research assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Pitt . “ The role of obesity has been studied in patients with more severe brain injuries , but little is known about its effect on milder brain injuries .”
Despite the “ mild ” moniker , 53 % of patients with mTBI who present to an emergency department have functional limitations one year later . Patients can be rehabilitated using cognitive behavioral and physical therapies , but those with prolonged neuroinflammation tend to have a longer recovery process and more severe symptoms .
Two blood biomarkers — high sensitivity C-reactive protein ( hsCRP ) and interleukin protein six ( IL-6 )— are both important in mediating inflammatory response after mTBI . HsCRP is a protein made by the liver that is associated with increased systemic inflammation , and IL-6 promotes
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inflammation by allowing inflammatory proteins in the body to be expressed .
The mTBI patients with obese BMI had higher concentrations of hsCRP compared to those with a healthy body BMI on the day of injury , as well as two weeks and six months after injury , whereas their IL-6 concentration was greater at two weeks , six months and 12 months after injury .
Eagle explained that the blood biomarkers spiked at different times in the obese mTBI patients mainly because hsCRP is a marker of systemic inflammation , whereas IL-6 is more often associated with trauma .
“ If a patient is obese , it means that they have a higher baseline inflammatory state , and their hsCRP levels spike even higher after brain trauma ,” Eagle said . “ IL-6 also spikes after trauma , and higher levels are associated with worse outcomes after sustaining an mTBI .”
Although there were not more obese patients — compared to that of those with healthy
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BMI — who had an incomplete functional recovery , assessments at six and 12 months after injury showed that obese patients had prolonged mTBI symptoms compared to the healthy BMI cohort .
Past studies have determined that obesity and mTBI are separately associated with inflammation . Similarly , animal studies have explored the relationship between obesity and brain injury recovery . However , no research had been conducted examining the way that obesity could possibly mediate the inflammatory response and mTBI symptoms in humans .
“ Our hope is to build our research program to find treatments that reduce inflammation and improve overall health for obese patients after sustaining an mTBI ,” said Eagle . “ Our findings suggest clinicians should consider higher body mass as a risk factor for poor responses to mTBI .” g
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“ If a patient is obese , it means that they have a higher baseline inflammatory state , and their hsCRP levels spike even higher after brain trauma .” |
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