Nature reviews. Neurology
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Nature reviews. Neurology · Dec 2017
ReviewHuman models of migraine - short-term pain for long-term gain.
Migraine is a complex disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of headache, and is one of the most prevalent and disabling neurological disorders. A key feature of migraine is that various factors can trigger an attack, and this phenomenon provides a unique opportunity to investigate disease mechanisms by experimentally inducing migraine attacks. ⋯ We describe the development and use of these models in the discovery of molecular pathways that are responsible for initiation of migraine attacks. Combining experimental human models with advanced imaging techniques might help to identify biomarkers of migraine, and in the ongoing search for new and better migraine treatments, human models will have a key role in the discovery of future targets for more-specific and more-effective mechanism-based antimigraine drugs.
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Nature reviews. Neurology · Dec 2017
ReviewMigrainomics - identifying brain and genetic markers of migraine.
Migraine is one of the world's most prevalent and disabling disorders and imposes an enormous socioeconomic burden. The exact causes of migraine are unknown, and no recognizable diagnostic pathological changes have been identified. Specific identifiable markers of migraine would aid diagnosis and could provide insight into the pathogenesis of the condition, with the potential to direct development of new therapeutics. ⋯ In total, 44 independent single-nucleotide polymorphism loci have been robustly associated with the risk of migraine and provide new evidence for the involvement of vascular mechanisms. Both imaging and genetics, therefore, have excellent potential as markers of migraine. In this Review, we provide a summary of results regarding current and potential neuroimaging and genetic markers of migraine, consider what conclusions can be drawn from these markers about migraine mechanisms and discuss the potential of combining imaging and genetics.