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A new study suggests that fluctuations in cartilage biomarkers early in the season may predict injury risk for female basketball players. The research, led by Julie Burland, PhD, director of research at the UConn Institute of Sports Medicine, highlights a potential tool for early injury detection in high-impact sports.
Burland, an assistant research professor of kinesiology, published the study in Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation. Her work builds on previous research linking cartilage metabolism to joint health.
"One of our main projects was to look at whether there was a relationship between cartilage metabolism, essentially the health of the joint, relative to injuries," she explains.
The study recruited 11 female basketball players from UConn and other Connecticut colleges. Researchers collected blood samples at multiple points throughout the season to track changes in cartilage biomarkers. They also monitored the athletes' movement patterns and impact loads—how hard they hit the ground when running or jumping—during practices.
“We could see how many steps they took and how hard each of those steps were,” Burland says. The data revealed that players with higher impact loads faced an increased risk of lower-extremity injuries. “It’s unsurprising in the sense that if athletes are taking higher numbers of higher-intensity steps in a given week, there’s a higher risk that they’re going to sustain a lower extremity injury.”
The findings showed that fluctuations in biomarkers associated with cartilage synthesis correlated with injury risk, particularly early in the season.
“The fact that there are fluctuations in cartilage metabolism could be indicative of something underlying that is ongoing with these individuals,” Burland notes.
To reduce injury risk, Burland suggests a gradual transition from off-season rest to in-season intensity. She hopes future studies will include larger, more diverse athlete populations to refine injury prevention strategies.
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