Prognosis and Diagnostic Biomarkers of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Current Status and Future Prospects

Article type: Review Article

Authors: Diaz-Pacheco, Valeria^{a; b} | Vargas-Medrano, Javier^{a; b} | Tran, Eric^c | Nicolas, Meza^c | Price, Diamond^d | Patel, Richa^a | Tonarelli, Silvina^{a; *} | Gadad, Bharathi S.^{a; b; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Psychiatry, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX, USA | [b] Southwest Brain Bank, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX, USA | [c] Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, El Paso, TX, USA | [d] The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Irvine, CA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Bharathi S. Gadad, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Paul L Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 5001 El Paso Drive, El Paso, TX 79905, USA. Tel.: +1 915 215 4913; Fax: +1 915 545 6442; E-mail: bharathi.gadad@ttuhsc.edu; Silvina Tonarelli, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Paul L Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, 5001 El Paso Drive, El Paso, TX 79905, USA. E-mail: Silvina.Tonarelli@ttuhsc.edu.

Abstract: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is the most prevalent type of TBI (80–90%). It is characterized by a loss consciousness for less than 30 minutes, post-traumatic amnesia for less than 24 hours, and Glasgow Coma Score of 13–15. Accurately diagnosing mTBIs can be a challenge because the majority of these injuries do not show noticeable or visible changes on neuroimaging studies. Appropriate determination of mTBI is tremendously important because it might lead in some cases to post-concussion syndrome, cognitive impairments including attention, memory, and speed of information processing problems. The scientists have studied different methods to improve mTBI diagnosis and enhanced approaches that would accurately determine the severity of the trauma. The present review focuses on discussing the role of biomarkers as potential key factors in diagnosing mTBI. The present review focuses on 1) protein based peripheral and CNS markers, 2) genetic biomarkers, 3) imaging biomarkers, 4) neurophysiological biomarkers, and 5) clinical trials in mTBI. Each section provides information and characteristics on different biomarkers for mTBI.

Keywords: Biomarkers, genetics, mild traumatic brain injury, neuroimaging, neurophysiology, proteomics

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215158

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 86, no. 3, pp. 943-959, 2022