The serum level of inflammatory markers in chronic and episodic migraine: a case-control study

AbstractThe exact mechanism of the migraine pathophysiology remained unclear. Although there are some reports showing low-grade inflammation in migraineurs, further studies are needed in this field. Thus, we designed a study to evaluate the serum levels of two main proinflammatory markers in migraine patients. In this case-control research, 43 migraine patients (23 chronic and 20 episodic migraineurs) and 40 age-sex-matched headache-free controls were studied. Demographic, dietary, and anthropometric data, headache characteristics, and serum C-reactive proteins (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α) assessments were collected. The mean ± SD age of the case and control groups were 36.98 ± 9.91 and 34.84 ± 9.75 years respectively. Compared to control subjects, both episodic and chronic migraineurs had significantly higher median levels of TNF-α (0.24, 0.95, and 1.90 pg/ml, respe ctively;P value  <  0.001). Also, we observed a positive association between the TNF-α levels and the odds of having migraine after considering gender, age, body mass index, and dietary intakes of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and mono and poly unsaturated fatty acids in the multivariable regression models (O R = 2.15; 95% CI 1.31–3.52;P value  <  0.001). However, no significant association was demonstrated between migraine and serum CRP (OR = 2.91; 95% CI 0.87–9.78;P value  = 0.08). These findings supported that inflammatory state could be rel...
Source: Neurological Sciences - Category: Neurology Source Type: research