Impact load and cartilage metabolic markers may predict injury risk in female athletes
Researchers discovered that moderate-to-high impact intensity early in the basketball season, in addition to increased cartilage synthesis biomarkers, are linked to a higher risk of injuries in female basketball players.
Employing impact load monitoring and serum biomarker analysis, researchers from University of Connecticut (CT, USA), University of North Carolina (NC, USA), Providence College (RI, USA), University of Pittsburgh (PA, USA) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (MA, USA) conducted a longitudinal study on female collegiate basketball players to identify risk factors for lower-extremity injuries. Published in Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation, their findings reveal that moderate-to-high intensity impacts early in the season and increased cartilage synthesis biomarkers are linked to a higher risk of injuries later. These findings could improve injury prevention strategies and design personal training programs for athletes.
Injury prevention is vital for an athlete’s competitive career, particularly joint injuries such as ACL tears. These injuries can end an athlete’s profession and have permanent effects on physical activity. Female athletes, particularly those participating in high-impact sports such as basketball or soccer, experience ACL injuries at a higher rate than male athletes. Identifying risk factors for these types of injury would enable injury prevention, improve athlete performance and mitigate any risks to long-term health.
You may also be interested in:
- Infographic: Doping at the Olympic Games – past, present and future
- The 2024 Summer Olympic Games: the evolving role of mass spectrometry in sports and athlete exposome analysis
- Automation of RNA-based biomarker extraction from dried blood spots for the detection of blood doping
The researchers focused on cartilage biomarkers associated with type II collagen and aggrecan metabolism, which indicate whether cartilage is being generated or degraded. Specific markers (procollagen II carboxy propeptide [CPII], aggrecan chondroitin sulfate 846 epitope [CS846] and collagen type II cleavage [C2C]) were chosen based on a prior study demonstrating that differences in the levels of these markers among military cadets were able to predict if they later sustained ACL injuries.
“One of our main projects was to look at whether there was a relationship between cartilage metabolism, essentially the health of the joint, relative to injuries,” explained Julie Burland, Director of Research and Assistant Research Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut.
The study tracked 11 female basketball players from August 2022 to April 2023, using inertial measurement units attached to their tibiae during practices to monitor impact load metrics. Blood samples were collected at six different time points (start of the season, end of the season and four in-season) to measure biomarker levels.
Results showed that moderate-to-high-intensity impacts early in the season were significantly associated with injuries. Specifically, medium-range impacts during weeks 5 and 6, as well as high-range impacts during week 8, correlated with injury occurrence. Furthermore, increased levels of CPII were associated with higher cumulative bone stimulus in the late season. CS846 measured at the beginning of the season and off-season was linked to season-long injury risk.
These findings highlight the potential of using impact load metrics and serum biomarkers to predict injury risk in female basketball players. By tracking these factors, targeted interventions can be implemented to reduce injuries and enhance player longevity. However, expanded studies are needed to validate these associations and explore how they can be integrated into injury prevention strategies.
“It was a good starting point and hopefully it will give us a foundation to build larger, more in-depth longitudinal studies looking at various populations,” “Our hope is to extend this into more female basketball teams as well as male sports and other related sports that have similar impact load patterns,” explained Burland.