Acute blood biomarker responses to consensual sexual choking/strangulation in young adult women: a randomized crossover study
Consensual sexual strangulation elicited acute increases in NfL and CCL-2, with VEGF-A showing a similar pattern, suggesting transient axonal stress and hypoxia-related inflammatory signaling. These findings indicate that sexual choking/strangulation, even in consensual contexts, may have subtle, yet detectable cellular burden. Future studies with larger samples, refined temporal sampling, and multimodal outcomes are needed to clarify short- and long-term implications.
Authors
- Dibyadyuti Datta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1693-935X)
- Sage H. Sweeney
- Megan E. Huibregtse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6311-8872)
- Debby Herbenick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0352-2248)
- Giselle Lima-Cooper
- Grace O. Recht
- Claire V. Buddenbaum
- Keisuke Kawata
- H. B. Day
- Bella Buehler
Institutions
- Emory University (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- Indiana University School of Medicine
- Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Frontiers in Global Women s Health
- Published
- 2026-01-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2025.1717361
- Primary Topic
- Restraint-Related Deaths
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development