Ictal and lnterictal Endothelin-1 Levels in Migraine Patients

Abstract

Migraine is a trigemino-vascular system disorder. Its clinical features are well known. However the pathophysiology of migraine is not completely understood. Recently, vasoactive neuropeptides originated principally from endothelium, have become the focus of migraine researches. Among these neuropeptides, endothelin-1 (ET-1) appears to be a patent vasoconstrictor agent in migraine. In this study, ET-1 levels were measured in migraine patients. · Results were compared with control subjects without headache. We studied 9 migraine patients and 8 control subjects. Endothelin-1 levels were measured in an interictal period, during a migraine attack at the time of maximum pain and the period of improving the pain. The mean ET-1 levels in the interictal period was 0.73±0.42 fmol/ml (0.1-0.9), at the time of maximum pain was 1.34±1.74 fmol/ml and the period of improving the pain ET- 1 level was 0.49±.29 fmol/ml (0.35-5.6). In the control subjects mean ET-1 level was 0.49±0.19 (O.7-0.7) fmol/ml. In the statistical analysis, there was no different among the headache periods, and between control groups and migraine patients. Individually, 4 migraine patients had higher ET-1 levels in the ictal periods than control subjects. According to these results, in migraine patients new and advanced studies may contribute to the understanding pathophysiology of migraine.