Table 2.

Inflammatory biomarkers

	Former football players NBD +	Former football players NBD-	Unexposed individuals NBD-	uncorr-p	FDR-p
CSF biomarkers	n = 76	n = 61	n = 41
CSF interleukin-1β, mean (SD) pg/mL	0.12 (0.09)	0.10 (0.08)	0.11 (0.09)	0.358	0.716
CSF interleukin-6, mean (SD) pg/mL	1.73 (0.93)	1.42 (0.57)	1.43 (0.68)	0.020*	0.120
CSF interleukin-8, mean (SD) pg/mL	47.1 (13.2)	48.7 (12.9)	47.2 (14.9)	0.549	0.824
CSF interleukin-10, mean (SD) pg/mL	0.09 (0.08)	0.08 (0.07)	0.08 (0.06)	0.704	0.845
CSF C-reactive protein, median (IQR) pg/mL	5390 (9778)	4370 (6267)	4730 (6910)	0.266	0.716
CSF tumor necrosis factor-α, mean (SD) pg/mL	0.13 (0.13)	0.13 (0.12)	0.14 (0.15)	0.924	0.924
Plasma biomarkers	n = 102	n = 75	n = 54
Plasma interleukin-1β, mean (SD) pg/mL	0.06 (0.19)	0.05 (0.06)	0.07 (0.12)	0.357	0.625
Plasma interleukin-6, median (IQR) pg/mL	0.72 (1.0)	0.65 (0.0)	0.80 (1.0)	0.167	0.390
Plasma interleukin-8, median (IQR) pg/mL	4.52 (3.0)	4.66 (2.0)	4.27 (3.0)	0.605	0.706
Plasma interleukin-10, median (IQR) pg/mL	0.23 (0.0)	0.28 (0.0)	0.25 (0.0)	0.491	0.687
Plasma C-reactive protein, median (IQR) mg/L	1.76 (0.27)	1.11 (0.19)	1.90 (0.20)	0.044*	0.154
Plasma tumor necrosis factor-α, mean (SD) pg/mL	2.28 (1.0)	2.08 (0.78)	2.43 (0.74)	0.022*	0.154
Plasma neurofilament light, mean (SD) pg/dL	11.9 (9.5)	10.9 (6.3)	11.4 (6.6)	0.973	0.973

Mean or median biomarker levels within three groups (not log-transformed), including standard deviation (SD) or interquartile range (IQR). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) assessed differences in log-transformed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma biomarkers between three groups. Models included covariates: age, BMI, rFSRP, and antidepressant use. Uncorrected and FDR-corrected p-values are presented. Full ANCOVA results can be found in Additional file 1: Tables B.1, B.2. * = p-values ≤ 0.05