Science, Space and Technology News 2024
New research uncovers a mechanism linking brain proteins to migraines by affecting sensory nerves, offering insights for potential treatments and explaining why migraines typically affect one side of the head.
More than 800,000 Danes suffer from migraines – a condition characterized by severe headaches in one side of the head. In around a fourth of all migraine patients, headache attacks are preceded by aura – symptoms from the brain such as temporary visual or sensory disturbances preceding the migraine attack by 5-60 minutes.
“We have discovered that these proteins activate a group of sensory nerve cell bodies at the base of the skull, the so-called trigeminal ganglion, which can be described as a gateway to the peripheral sensory nervous system of the skull,” says Postdoc Martin Kaag Rasmussen from the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Copenhagen, who is first author of the study.
The peripheral nervous system consists of all the nerve fibers responsible for communication between the central nervous system – the brain and spinal cord – and the skin, organs, and muscles. The sensory nervous system, which is part of the peripheral nervous system, is responsible for communicating information about e.g. touch, itching, and pain to the brain.
The study was conducted on mice, but also included MR scans of the human trigeminal ganglion, and according to the scientists, there is every indication that the function of the signaling pathway is the same in mice and humans and that in humans too the proteins are carried by cerebrospinal fluid.
The group of proteins identified by the researchers included CGRP – a protein already associated with migraine and used in existing treatments. However, the researchers also discovered a series of other proteins, which may pave the way for new treatment options.
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