Gender aspects of CGRP in migraine - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

Gender aspects of CGRP in migraine

Alejandro Labastida-Ramírez et al. Cephalalgia. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Migraine is two to three times more prevalent in women than in men, but the mechanisms involved in this gender disparity are still poorly understood. In this respect, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) plays a key role in migraine pathophysiology and, more recently, the functional interactions between ovarian steroid hormones, CGRP and the trigeminovascular system have been recognized and studied in more detail.

Aims: To provide an overview of CGRP studies that have addressed gender differences utilizing animal and human migraine preclinical research models to highlight how the female trigeminovascular system responds differently in the presence of varying ovarian steroid hormones.

Conclusions: Gender differences are evident in migraine. Several studies indicate that fluctuations of ovarian steroid hormone (mainly estrogen) levels modulate CGRP in the trigeminovascular system during different reproductive milestones. Such interactions need to be considered when conducting future animal and human experiments, since these differences may contribute to the development of gender-specific therapies.

Keywords: CGRP; estrogen; migraine; ovarian steroid hormones; trigeminovascular system.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Trigeminovascular system. Sites where estrogens, mainly estradiol (E2), modify CGRP receptor expression/function in rodents (purple) and humans (blue).

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Graphical representation of changes in ovarian hormones levels during different stages of the human and rat reproductive menstrual cycle. Falling estradiol levels are associated with high migraine incidence. Redrawn from (4,81): (a) Human menstrual cycle and (b) Rat estrous cycle.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Stankewitz A, Aderjan D, Eippert F, et al. Trigeminal nociceptive transmission in migraineurs predicts migraine attacks. J Neurosci 2011; 31: 1937–1943. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Buse DC, Loder EW, Gorman JA, et al. Sex differences in the prevalence, symptoms, and associated features of migraine, probable migraine and other severe headache: Results of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) study. Headache 2013; 53: 1278–1299. - PubMed
    1. Kurth T, Winter AC, Eliassen AH, et al. Migraine and risk of cardiovascular disease in women: Prospective cohort study. BMJ 2016; 353: i2610–i2610. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pavlovic JM, Allshouse AA, Santoro NF, et al. Sex hormones in women with and without migraine: Evidence of migraine-specific hormone profiles. Neurology 2016; 87: 49–56. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martin VT, Pavlovic J, Fanning KM, et al. Perimenopause and menopause are associated with high frequency headache in women with migraine: Results of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention study. Headache 2016; 56: 292–305. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources