Ricard Pruna

Single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with non-contact soft tissue injuries in elite professional soccer players: influence on degree of injury and recovery time

BackgroundThe biological mechanisms involved in non-contact musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries (NCMSTI) are poorly understood. Genetic risk factors may be associated with susceptibility to injuries, and may exert marked influence on recovery times.MethodsData on type and degree of injury and recovery time were collected in 73 male professional soccer players (43 White, 11 Black Africans and 19 Hispanics) who suffered total of 242 injuries (203 muscle, 24 ligament, and 15 tendon injuries). One single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in the following genes were analyzed: Elastin (ELN); Titin (TTN); SRY-related HMG-box (SOX15); Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2); Chemokine, CC motif, ligand 2 (CCL2); Collagen type 1 alpha 1(COL1A1); Collagen type 5 alpha 1 (COL5A1), and Tenascin C (TNC).ResultsThere was evidence of a statistically significant association between the degree of injury and the IGF2 genotype (P = 0.034). In addition, there was evidence of a statistically significant association between the degree of muscle injury and CCL2 (P = 0.026) Finally, there was evidence of a statistically significant association between ELN and degree of injury (p = 0.009) and recovery time (P = 0.043). There was no evidence of a statistically significant association between any of the genes studied and degree of injury or recovery time for tendon injuries.ConclusionSNPs in the IGF2, CCL2, and ELN genes may be associated to the degree and recovery time of NCMSTI.

The importance of epidemiological research in sports medicine

Tot i que els efectes positius de l’activitat fisica per a la salut estan ben documentats, l’activitat esportiva s’associa amb un determinat risc de lesio. Per tant, la prevencio de lesions es molt important, i la recerca epidemiologica es el primer pas fonamental en la sequencia de prevencio1. En alguns esports la incidencia, les caracteristiques i la gravetat de les lesions estan ben descrites. Per exemple, la Unio Europea d’Associacions de Futbol (UEFA) te programes de seguiment de les lesions en el futbol professional i internacional des del 20012-4. En altres esports, pero, aquesta informacio es insuficient i hi ha una necessitat urgent de mes estudis. En aquest editorial es preten destacar alguns fonaments de la investigacio epidemiologica de les lesions esportives. Historicament, les variacions metodologiques dificulten les comparacions entre els estudis. El 2006 es va publicar un consens metodologic per a l’estudi de la lesio de futbol5 i des de llavors ha estat seguit per alguns altres esports d’equip6 i recentment tambe en el cas d’un esport individual (tennis)7. Un nou enfocament en aquest ultim estudi va ser la recomanacio de registrar altres factors medics en relacio amb les lesions, com ara les malalties. Aixo hauria de ser un pas important per obtenir un panorama complet dels problemes medics d’un esport especific, tot i que creara la necessitat de recollir un nombre de dades mes gran. El resultat principal de la investigacio epidemiologica de lesions esportives es la incidencia de lesions, que generalment s’expressa com una proporcio entre numerador i denominador. En el numerador es tenen en compte els casos (nombre de lesions, nombre de lesionats o jugadors malalts) durant un periode de temps definit, i en el denominador el nombre total d’esportistes exposats (atletes en situacio de risc, el nombre d’exposicions dels atletes, o el temps de participacio en els esports). En els esports d’equip, la incidencia de lesio es generalment expressada en nombre de lesions per cada 1.000 hores de participacio. La incidencia de lesions en un estudi depen totalment de les definicions de lesio i d’exposicio utilitzades. En la practica, en alguns estudis es defineix “lesio” com la necessitat d’atencio medica que te l’esportista; en altres analisis es considera lesio nomes aquella que fa que l’atleta estigui absent en almenys una sessio de treball, tant si es tracta d’entrenament com de competicio5,7. En molts esports, l’exposicio durant la competicio es facil de registrar. Pero registrar amb precisio l’exposicio en carregues d’entrenament pot ser mes dificil, especialment en esports individuals. En el futbol, l’exposicio en l’entrenament es defineix com “les diverses activitats fisiques que es duen a terme amb el control o la direccio d’entrenadors de l’equip o preparadors fisics que tenen per objectiu mantenir o millorar les habilitats dels jugadors de futbol o la condicio fisica”5, i aixo pot ser aplicable tambe a molts altres esports d’equip. Fins ara, la ma* Autor per a correspondencia. Correu electronic: hagglund.martin@telia.com (M. Hagglund). www.apunts.org

The impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms on patterns of non-contact musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries in a football player population according to ethnicity

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The prevention, diagnosis, and management of non-contact musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries (NCMSTIs) related to participation in sports are key components of sport and exercise medicine. Epidemiological data have demonstrated the existence of interindividual differences in the severity of NCMSTIs, indicating that these injuries occur as a consequence of both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, including genetic variations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We have collected data on NCMSTIs suffered by 73 elite players of White, black African and Hispanic ethnicity of European football over the course of three consecutive seasons. We have also examined eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes related to tissue recovery and tissue repair in blood drawn from the players and correlated our findings with type and severity of injuries in each ethnic group. RESULTS The frequency of the SNPs varied among the three ethnic sub-groups (p<0.0001). Among Whites, a significant relationship was observed between ligament injuries and ELN (p=0.001) and between tendinous injuries and ELN (p=0.05) and IGF2 (p=0.05). Among Hispanics, there was a significant relation between muscle injuries and ELN (p=0.032) and IGF2 (p=0.016). CONCLUSIONS Interracial genotypic differences may be important in the study of NCMSTIs. A genetic profile based on SNPs may be useful tool to describe each individuals injuribility risk and provide specific treatment and preventive care for football players.

Muscle Injuries in Sports: A New Evidence-Informed and Expert Consensus-Based Classification with Clinical Application

Muscle injuries are among the most common injuries in sport and continue to be a major concern because of training and competition time loss, challenging decision making regarding treatment and return to sport, and a relatively high recurrence rate. An adequate classification of muscle injury is essential for a full understanding of the injury and to optimize its management and return-to-play process. The ongoing failure to establish a classification system with broad acceptance has resulted from factors such as limited clinical applicability, and the inclusion of subjective findings and ambiguous terminology. The purpose of this article was to describe a classification system for muscle injuries with easy clinical application, adequate grouping of injuries with similar functional impairment, and potential prognostic value. This evidence-informed and expert consensus-based classification system for muscle injuries is based on a four-letter initialism system: MLG-R, respectively referring to the mechanism of injury (M), location of injury (L), grading of severity (G), and number of muscle re-injuries (R). The goal of the classification is to enhance communication between healthcare and sports-related professionals and facilitate rehabilitation and return-to-play decision making.

Genetic biomarkers in non-contact muscle injuries in elite soccer players

PurposeDamage to skeletal muscle necessitates regeneration to maintain proper muscle form and function. Interindividual differences in injury severity, recovery time, and injury rate could be explained by the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in the reparation and regeneration of connective tissue . We wished to identify new genetic biomarkers that could help to prevent or minimize the risk of non-contact muscle injuries and are associated with a predisposition to developing muscle injuries.MethodsUsing allelic discrimination techniques, we analysed 12 SNPs in selected genes from the genomic DNA of 74 elite soccer players.ResultsSNPs in the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene showed evidence of a statistically significant association with injury incidence, severity, and recovery time. SNPs in the SOX15 gene showed evidence of a statistically significant association with injury incidence. SNPs in the GEFT and LIF genes showed evidence of a statistically significant association with recovery time.ConclusionsGenetic profile could explain why some elite soccer players are predisposed to suffer more injuries than others and why they need more time to recover from a particular injury. SNPs in HGF genes have an important role as biomarkers of biological processes fragility within muscle injuries related to injury rate, severity, and long recovery time.

Cognition in Football

Football players are required to make instantaneous and continuous decisions throughout the match, without have pre-determined playing sequences at their disposal. The football field is an unpredictable area, with players required to access cues from team-mates, opponents, the ball, playing surface, environment, coaches and referees. A high level of cognitive skill is required to enable players to fulfill their physical and technical potential. Skills such as game intelligence, spatial perception, anticipation, reaction time, attention shifting, and pattern recognition is relevant cognitive skills. These skills can be enhanced by ensuring training sessions train not just the physical components but also challenge and train the neural pathways. This review looks at some of the important cognition elements that are relevant in football performance.

Depression in Football

Recently there has been an increase in the importance of mental health in sport professionals. Studies have shown higher levels of depression than the general population. Biological components play a big role in endogenous research, and biological reasons for depression can include the genetic components that make up the individual. But a part from that, different factors linked with the biological predisposition as injuries, overtraining, sleep disturbance, retirement, alcohol, pressure and stress highlights the importance of proper social support structures that stakeholders within the clubs have to pay attention on, and invest in.

Piomiositis no traumática recurrente en un jugador de fútbol profesional

Resumen La piomiositis representa una importante infeccion del musculo esqueletico causada principalmente por Staphylococcus aureus. En este articulo se presenta el caso clinico de un futbolista de elite con antecedentes de foliculitis de repeticion y portador cronico de S. aureus que presenta en un periodo de 6 meses dos episodios de piomiositis muscular no traumatica que, tras las pruebas complementarias adecuadas, el cultivo del microorganismo y el tratamiento antibiotico correcto, se resolvieron sin complicacion alguna.

Hamstring and other thigh injuries in children and young athletes

In adults, hamstring injuries may lead to long periods of rehabilitation and carry a definite risk of recurrence. However, no studies detail how these injuries affect young athletes.

Role of the Extracellular Matrix in Muscle Injuries: Histoarchitectural Considerations for Muscle Injuries

In recent years, different classifications of muscle injury have been proposed based on topographic location within the bone-tendon-muscle chain. Furthermore, because the degree and level of extracellular matrix (ECM) involvement might vary greatly, we propose to include histoarchitectural considerations in the gross anatomic description of muscle injuries. ANATOMIC DESCRIPTION OF MUSCLE INJURIES