Cobbers on the Brain

A study done at UCLA recently overviewed the large cascade of neurological effects of concussions and specifically unveiled the real damage resulting from sustaining multiple concussions in a short period of time.
It all has to do with metabolism, and energy. When the brain sustains a concussion, it falls into an emergency mode, termed hyperglycolysis. Neurons in the brain, and elsewhere in the body are dependent on ion gradients internally and externally to the neuron. When a concussion occurs, membranes of neurons are shaken and broken, leaking ions in and out of the neuron, losing cell-dependent gradients of sodium, potassium, and calcium. Thus, the neuron loses function as membrane pumps fall into overdrive, consuming energy reserves exponentially. This increase in fuel demand results in a metabolic crisis, hyperglycolysis, in which cerebral blood flow isn’t efficient to produce enough energy, and lactate begins to accumulate in the brain. The degree of metabolic crisis comes to define the degree and extent of injury, and shows a mechanism to why the brain is so vulnerable following mild and severe concussions.
With ion concentrations in abnormal numbers in localized regions of the brain, this puts stress on the nervous system, shifting metabolic pathways that initiate long-lasting neuronal harm. This sets the stage for vulnerability for a repeated injury, which is easily applicable to the topic of sports-related concussion today.
After an initial time period of hyperglycolysis and generative damaging free radicals, glucose metabolic rates are impaired from 7 to 10 days in adult animals, and these impairments are correlated to losses in spatial learning. Although this recovery time differs with age, younger animals showing shorter times of impairment (3 days), this comes to show the irreversible damages that occur with second concussions during the period of vulnerability.
It has been clinically understood that the time period of greatest risk associated with concussions comes within the first 10 days of injury. However, researchers measured a metabolite NAA, N-acetylaspartate, in post-concussion humans, relative to normal controls. On average, NAA levels took 30 days to recover, with an exception to patients who sustained a concussion within the 30 days, those subjects didn’t fully recover until 45 days after the initial injury. These studies show the time period of metabolic recovery in the brain, however scientists are yet to correlate NAA levels with symptoms, thus connections between NAA levels and clinical use remain uncertain.
Animal research offered understanding in connecting markers of metabolic stress with losses in cognition. Repeated concussions in adult mice showed degradation of cognition and neuronal injury when incidents were spaced out by 3 to 5 days, and not when injuries were separated by 7 days. In another study involving adult rats, period of glucose metabolism following concussions was correlated with impairments in working memory and generally having the time span of 3 days. When a second injury occurred within this period of metabolic sensitivity, severity of hypometabolism and memory decline was significantly greater. However when the second injury occurred beyond the full metabolic recovery, 5 days, the 2 injuries acted like single, isolated events.
Overall, applications of metabolism-correlated recovery to humans and sports-related concussions are very evident. Indirectly, these studies support clinical procedures to allow recovery for athletes immediately following concussions. It is highly likely that recovery times are longer for humans in contrast to animals, so ultimately further work will decide a specific biomarker for time of recovery for individual patients when relating to traits including cognition, balance and reaction time.

This past week in our neurochemistry class, we discussed the role of Nitric oxide and the role it plays within the body. Nitric oxide (NO) is produced glial cells within our central nervous system. Glial cells serve the important role of inducing inflammatory processes in the body. Through activation by a host of endogenous and exogenous stimuli, glial cells produce bioactive compounds that are noxious for neuronal cell function. Nitric oxide is included within these bioactive compounds and is one of the most important molecules released by glial cells. Physiologically, NO serves as a neuromodulator and neurotransmitter in the brain, but in excess NO can exhibit harmful effects within our bodies including neuronal cell death. Through its prevalent social relevance, the use of nitric oxide as a pre-workout supplementation was discussed thoroughly and will be the topic of this blog post.
 
Pre-Workout Supplementation
In the late 1930s, a few individuals across the nation first began isolating whey from milk as a form of supplementation. By the 1950s, vitamins, minerals, and other isolates were included and sold in a powder form to aid in the nutrition of athletes. The 1980s brought about the fruition of the body-building craze and market for supplementation exploded for competitive lifters. Many types of supplements were introduced into the market, both legitimate and complete scams. In the early 2000s, the molecule Nitric oxide was introduced as a supplement for its vasodilation effects. The enlargement of the lifter’s veins was something tangible the lifter could see, and in turn, believed it was working. This physical manifestation of nitric oxide’s effects on the body made it become the premier component in a pre-workout supplement. Now the question remains, does supplementing with nitric oxide pre-workout work?
As a collegiate athlete, I have always been an avid lifter and used an array of supplementation while working out. In both high school and college, the use of pre-workout is quite prevalent and nitric oxide as a key ingredient was a favorite amongst my peers for a pre-workout supplementation. For many, the use of pre-workout gets them “in the zone” and results in better workouts day in and day out. Many claim that after using pre-workout supplements, as soon as you quit the intensity of your lifting drops, so obviously the pre-workout is aiding their lifting in their minds. Adding to the mix of factors, I was never informed of any potential side affects that could come from the use of nitric oxide supplementation, although through personal experience I didn’t see any positive effects.   As a wrestler, my diet wasn’t always the best while competing due to the demand to cut of excess weight to be at a high level of competition. Supplementing with protein shakes supplied me with an easy option to obtain my daily protein/vitamin intake needs while sacrificing the weight that is associated with substantial food/liquid intake, although I cannot say that pre-workout supplementation aided in my performance as an athlete. When I used these supplements, I did indeed feel a “buzz” similar to what I would also experience after a few cups of coffee. So my personal conviction for the pre-workout supplements is that they really don’t work. They present the lifter with a feeling that they can associate with lifting and the removal of that feeling results in non-intensive lifts. Studies have shown that nitric oxide supplementation may aid a little to individuals not in shape but no consistent correlation has been presented within the realm of avid lifting. So it seems as if all this supplementation as a whole is a marketing scheme, the goal is to give an athlete a feeling that he/she associates with training to ensure the athlete’s continued use of their product. But, again, these are my personal convictions and fairly irrelevant as to what the public should know about nitric oxide.
 
Excess NO in the body
Production of NO is obtained through the overexpression of Nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Abnormal iNOS induction influences the pathophysiology of detrimental consequences and particular neurological diseases including periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), Krabbe’s disease, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Mechanistically, the overproduction of NO results in the production of reactive nitrogen species (RNS). RNS are toxic forms of NO and the stress they present in neuronal cells is achieved through affecting mitochondria function, disrupting proteins, and inhibit the synthesis of DNA from ribonucleotides. In summary, excess NO disrupts normal cellular functions within our bodies, and resulting in negative side affects. Further experimentation and research is needed to clearly define the role NO plays in the nervous system in order to address its overproduction.
So back to the pre-workout supplementation… I feel that informing athletes of the side affects presented by nitric oxide is of utmost importance. As a victim to this marketing scheme, young athletes are lead to believe that the use of these supplements will increase their performance and their use of these products are not influenced by the negative side affects that can come from excess NO.

It is the fourth year of my excellent under graduate school experience here at Concordia College. I am graduating in May of 2016. Three and half years of hard working, being challenge, and growing to a responsible, open minded, and critical thinker person. I am very blessed to be able to attend Concordia College, which is a place that obtaining a perfect grade by the students is not the only concern of the professors. I have been thought to think critically, reason, and devote to the common good of the world. “Being responsibly engaged in the world” is the mission of Concordia College, which I was taught since freshmen year. Throughout my years of education, I realized that I am given the chance to truly practice and prepare for a future life of “being responsibly engaged in the world”. This is the goal for which the classes are structured and the professors are teaching accordingly.
Neurochemistry class as a capstone course for seniors taught by Dr. Mach. This is where the students are given the opportunity to make connections between the materials learned in different classes and the real life problems in the society. The concern is not keeping up with taking notes in the class nor only listening to the professor lecturing for the entire class time. The concern is to encourage students to speak up, participate, contribute to the class, research, use what learned from other classes, communicate, discuss the issues going on in our society, and try to think of ways to make a difference. Dr. Mach plays role of a friend, who is also learning in the process; even though she has taught this class for years. I style of teaching is unique and a totally different experience. Dr. Mach and the structure of this class have supported, and helped me to become more confident of my abilities. Thank you Dr. Mach.
Words cannot do justice to describe my feelings of appreciation to Concordia College and all my professors including Dr. Mach who taught me Biochemistry and Neurochemistry as a capstone course. The lessons all of you have taught me will help me succeed in my future life and career. Thank you is all I can say.

This class was drastically different from my other lecture style classes that I have had at Concordia.  Instead of the professor lecturing the entire class period, we spent that time discussing, sharing our thoughts, and learning from both our classmates and our professor.
We spent each week discussing a different topic from a research article.  Some of the topics we discussed this year were ALS, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s disease, autism, obesity, and concussions.  Having the ability to read and make sense of scholarly works is a critical skill that one does not get to practice that often.  We then individually researched an area of the article we wanted to know more about or get clarification on, and spent the next class period sharing our findings with the class.  Not only did this help me to further understand the topic, but it also allowed me to practice explaining the science with other students in the class, helping to develop my communication skills.  We then spent the end of the week discussing things related to the topic of the week, whether it was ethics, biology, chemistry, or psychology related.  This helped me make connections between different disciplines.
This type of classroom environment fosters self-learning, a love for learning and communication skills.  What was really cool about the class was combining the knowledge of those in the class, learning from each other and sharing each other’s ideas to help develop a better understanding of the topic.  I think an integrative and communicative based course such as this truly fits the definition of a capstone experience at Concordia.  It was an enjoyable and productive way to learn and it allowed everyone to think broadly and critically on a wide spectrum of subjects.  I would like to thank my professor Dr. Mach and my fellow students for this enjoyable capstone experience.