A causal effects of gut microbiota in the development of migraine

Journal article

Objective: To analyze the specificity of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) levels, we measured alpha-CGRP circulating levels in a large series of patients with a recent diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who were interviewed regarding comorbid headache. Background: Several studies have found an association between migraine and IBD. Methods: In this cross-sectional study performed in an IBD clinic, morning serum alpha-CGRP levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 96 patients who were recently diagnosed with IBD and compared to those from 50 similar patients with chronic migraine (CM) and 50 healthy controls (HC). Results: Alpha-CGRP levels were higher in patients with IBD (median [interquartile range] 56.9 [35.6-73.9] pg/mL) and patients with CM (53.0 [36.7-73.9] pg/mL) compared to HC (37.2 [30.0-51.8] pg/mL; p=0.003; p=0.019, respectively). Regarding IBD diagnostic subtypes, alpha-CGRP levels for ulcerative colitis (67.2±49.3pg/mL; 57.0 [35.6-73.4] pg/mL) and Crohn's disease (54.9±27.5pg/mL; 57.7 [29.1-76.1] pg/mL) were significantly higher than those of HC (p=0.013, p=0.040, respectively). Alpha-CGRP levels were further different in patients with IBD with migraine (70.9 [51.8-88.7] pg/mL) compared to HC (p<0.001), patients with IBD without headache (57.5 [33.3-73.8] pg/mL; p=0.049), and patients with IBD with tension-type headache but without migraine (41.7 [28.5-66.9] pg/mL; p=0.004), though alpha-CGRP levels in patients with IBD without migraine (53.7 [32.9-73.5] pg/mL) remained different over HC (p=0.028). Conclusion: Together with CM, circulating alpha-CGRP levels are different in patients with IBD, perhaps reflecting a chronic inflammatory state. IBD is an example of how alpha-CGRP levels are not a totally specific migraine biomarker. However, alpha-CGRP levels were further increased in patients with IBD who have a history of migraine, which reinforces its role as a biomarker in migraine patients, always bearing in mind their comorbidities.FUNDING INFORMATION: This study was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the project PI20/01358 and co-funded by Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), “Una manera de hacer Europa.” ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: We are grateful to the nurse of our IBD Unit, María Soledad Serrano, for her continuous support

Authors: He, Q; Wang, W; Xiong, Y; Tao, C; Ma, L

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Journal: The Journal of Headache and Pain
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 90-90
• Article number: 90
• Publication date: 2023-07-17
• DOI: 10.1186/s10194-023-01609-x
• EISSN: 1129-2377
• ISSN: 1129-2369
• Language: English
• Keywords: Immunology; Computational biology; Internal medicine; Migraine; Biology; Gut–brain axis; Gut flora; Medicine