NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with migraine and chronic migraine appear to have increased expression of platelet genes, researchers report in the December issue of Headache.
One possible result of this finding, lead investigator Dr. Andrew D. Hershey told Reuters Health is that “future identification of migraine sub-types that would be able to be identified by a blood test. This may evolve into individualized treatment based on the gene expression.”
Dr. Hershey of Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati and colleagues note that migraine has a strong genetic component and may contribute to chronic migraine.
To determine whether genomic profiling of peripheral blood cells might shed more light on the matter, the researchers examined samples from 7 patients with migraine, 15 with chronic migraine and 56 controls. Controls consisted of healthy volunteers as well as patients with various neurological and psychiatric diseases.
A group of platelet genes was upregulated in both of the migraine groups. However, different expression patterns were seen in migraine and chronic migraine patients.
Compared with controls, of 4096 genes with relatively high expression, 40 were upregulated in migraine and 353 were upregulated in chronic migraine.
In particular, a group of immediate early genes, including c-fos and cox-2 were expressed at higher levels in migraine. In chronic migraine, higher levels of specific mitochondrial genes were seen.
The platelet gene finding, say the researchers, indicates a similar underlying pathology. However, the differences indicate that the pathology is overlapping rather than identical.
“The biggest implication of the study,” added Dr. Hershey, “is a new way to uncover the underlying pathophysiology of this poly-genetic disorder.”
Source: Headache 2004;44:994-1004. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Biological Sciences: Biology: Gene Expression Regulation: Genetics: Genetics, Biochemical: Molecular Biology: Biological SciencesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
