Migraine patients have higher levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) during menstruation.
- Women are two to three times more affected by migraines than men.
- Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a substance, which dilates blood vessels in the brain and causes an inflammatory response.
- Migraine patients have higher levels of CGRP, in plasma and tear fluid, during their periods.
11 million. This is the number of people affected by migraine, namely a throbbing, one-sided headache that occurs in attacks. According health insurance, women suffer two to three times more than men. In female patients, the attacks tend to appear and concentrate around the time of menstruation, when they are also more severe, and the same is true at the onset of menopause. In many cases, the symptoms improve during pregnancy and the frequency of migraines also decreases after menopause.
CGRP, a neuropeptide that dilates blood vessels in the brain
“Researchers have long known that there is a link between hormonal fluctuations and migraines, but exactly how these changes trigger migraines remains highly unclear,” said scientists from the University of Berlin (Germany). That is why they decided to carry out a study, the results of which were published in the journal Neurology.
The team focused on a neuropeptide: the “calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)”. It is a naturally occurring substance in the body. When a person has a migraine, increasing levels are released which significantly dilates or widens the blood vessels in the brain. “This causes an inflammatory response which could be one of the reasons for the severe headaches people experience with migraine”said Bianca Raffaelli, author of the research in a statement.
Migraine and periods: 180 women were followed
As part of the work, the authors recruited 180 women suffering from migraines and having a regular menstrual cycle, suffering from headaches and having oral contraception or presenting with headaches after the menopause. In detail, the volunteers with a regular menstrual cycle had to make two medical visits, one during their period and the other during the periovulatory period. Women receiving a pill were examined at the time of the hormone-free interval and between days 7 and 14 of hormone intake. Postmenopausal patients were examined once at a random time. “Plasma and tear fluid samples were taken at each visit to determine CGRP levels,” can we read in the study.
“Migraine patients release more CGRP”
When the data was compared with that of women who did not suffer from headaches, it appeared that participants with migraine had higher concentrations of CGRP in plasma and tear fluid during menstruation. “This means that when estrogen levels drop immediately before the onset of menstruation, female migraineurs release more CGRP. This could explain why these patients have more attacks before and during their period.” explained Bianca Raffaelli. In contrast, there were virtually no fluctuations in estrogen levels among women taking oral contraception and those postmenopausal.
“These data will need to be confirmed by larger studies, but our results suggest that CGRP release is dependent on hormonal status in humans, as it is in animals. menopause do indeed provide relief for some migraine patients. But as our study also shows, some women experience migraine even in the absence of any hormonal fluctuation. We suspect that other processes in the body play a role in triggering attacks. in these patients. After all, CGRP is not the only inflammatory peptide that can trigger a migraine attack.” concluded the scientists.
