“ As far as we are aware, this is the first study to examine connections between head impacts and the composition of the gut microbiome.”
Repeated Head Impacts Linked to Gut Microbiome Changes
“ As far as we are aware, this is the first study to examine connections between head impacts and the composition of the gut microbiome.”
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Non-concussive head impacts-hits to the head that don’ t cause clinically detectable symptoms-are correlated with subsequent changes to the gut microbiome in a small sample of US collegiate football players, according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Ahmet Ay and Kenneth Douglas Belanger of Colgate University, USA, and colleagues.
Non-concussive head impacts are common in American football, with players experiencing between 100 and 1,000 across a season. While research has shown that full concussions can disrupt the gut microbiome-which regulates inflammation and the neuroimmune system-whether sub-concussive hits might produce similar effects had not been investigated.
In the new study, researchers tracked six NCAA Division I American football players across a competition season, beginning during preseason training. Their on-field