Appendix for: Light chain neurofilament revealing brain tissue damage in physical contact sport athletes, a systematic review

Objective: To evaluate whether participating in physical contact sports is associated with a release of neurofilaments and whether this release is related to future clinical neurological and/or psychiatric impairment.

Methods: We have performed a systematic literature review of the PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library databases using a combination of the search terms neurofilament(s)/intermediate filament and sport(s)/athletes. Only original studies, written in English, that have reported on neurofilament measurements in CSF and/or serum/plasma of physical contact sport athletes were retained for data extraction. This review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Analyses guidelines.

Results: Eighteen studies reporting on light chain neurofilament (NfL), in eight different contact sports (i.e. boxing, American football, ice hockey, soccer, mixed martial arts, lacrosse, rugby and wrestling), matched our inclusion criteria. In 13/18 athlete c...