The study of epigenetic clocks in former professional contact sports athletes with repetitive head injuries
In former athletes, we confirmed that chronological age is associated with cerebral atrophy and identified an association between increased DNAmFitAA and a higher number of concussions. This finding requires validation in independent studies, along with an assessment of the relationship between DNAmFitAA and neurodegeneration. Our analysis did not reveal a link of the examined epigenetic clocks with brain volumes and cortical thickness. Exploration of other epigenetic clocks may provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying brain aging.
Authors
- Brenda Colella
- Vishaal Sumra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4521-792X)
- Ming Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4491-8927)
- Kaj Blennow
- Robin Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9451-3963)
- Richard Wennberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1865-2280)
- Christine Sato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7598-0996)
- Xuelin Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7111-5102)
- Carmela M. Tartaglia
- Ekaterina Rogaeva
- Henrik Zetterberg
- Charles Tator
Institutions
- Tongji University (CN)
- University Health Network (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Toronto Western Hospital (CA)
- Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SE)
- Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (CA)
- Occupational Cancer Research Centre (CA)
- UK Dementia Research Institute (GB)
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Alzheimer s & Dementia
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70856_103202
- Primary Topic
- Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00