Eighteen patients suffering from true menstrual migraine and 12 control subjects were studied. We evaluated in different phases of the menstrual cycle and during the migraine crisis the peripheral plasma concentrations of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha (the stable metabolite of PGI2), thromboxane B2 (the stable metabolite of thromboxane A2), PGF2 alpha and PGE2. The mean values of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha in menstrual migraine sufferers are lower than in normal women throughout the whole cycle. The difference between the trends observed in the two groups is statistically significant (p less than 0.05). The plasma levels of TXB2 and of PGF2 alpha are similar in the two groups investigated, both in basal conditions and during the attack. The plasma concentrations of PGE2 are slightly lower in migraineurs in basal conditions than in normals. However, during the crisis they increase significantly (p less than 0.05). In conclusion, among all the parameters considered, PGE2 seems to play the most important role during the pain phase of the attack. The results of the present study suggest that a deficit of PGI2, one of the most important protecting agents against ischemia, might be a typical feature of menstrual migraine and might cause in these patients a vascular hypersensitivity to different ischemic stimuli.

The aim of this study was to clarify a possible relationship between pollution and worsening of headache in the industrial city of Turin. From October 1992 to June 1993, we examined a group of 32 patients suffering from various headache types. During these months, they kept a daily record of their headaches and associated disturbances. Changes in pain frequency and severity were recorded every hour of the day and compared hour to hour with the various degrees of pollution recorded in the main streets by a monitoring station. The influence of meteorological parameters was also taken into consideration. During winter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide showed a simultaneous hyperconcentration on the same days and the same hours. Increased incidence of headache attacks and increase in severity corresponded to the same hours, days, and months. The findings were statistically significant (P = 0.008, Student's t-test). An isolated increase in nitrogen dioxide only (without an increase in carbon monoxide which was only recorded once) induced headache a couple of hours after the peak concentration was reached. Among the meteorological factors, only the highest values in wind velocity were shown to exert a significant influence on worsening headache frequency and severity.

The role of vascular phenomena taking place during an attack of migraine are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to measure systemic levels of nitric oxide and endothelin-1, two of the most potent vasoactive mediators known, and to assess vasomotor responses through transcranial Doppler ultrasound monitoring in patients suffering from migraine without aura, both during the headache event and in headache-free periods as well as after pharmacologically induced pain relief. Seven patients (mean age 31.3 years, range 24 to 49 years), five women and two men, were enrolled in the pilot study. Transcranial Doppler recordings were performed according to conventional procedure. Endothelin-1 concentrations were measured by means of radioimmunoassay, whereas nitric oxide levels were estimated using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Ultrasound evaluation did not show significant changes during migraine attacks compared to the interictal condition. Nitric oxide levels showed only slight differences between basal and attack conditions (0.85 +/- 0.46 versus 1.56 +/- 0.88, expressed as arbitrary units), and were raised after pharmacological intervention (2.91 +/- 1.93, P < 0.05). Plasma endothelin-1 concentrations decreased during migraine attacks with respect to interictal conditions (3.99 +/- 1.21 pg/mL versus 4.23 +/- 1.19), and returned to basal values (4.44 +/- 1.08 pg/mL) after relief of pain. Coupling the measurements of systemic levels of nitric oxide and endothelin-1 with transcranial Doppler velocity results will provide useful information on the hemodynamic changes of cerebral blood flow regulation in migraineurs, thereby adding new insights into the mechanisms of the migraine attack.

Sometimes the relaxation after stress may trigger a migraine attack. This is the principle that underlies that particular variant of migraine called "weekend headache". We hypothesize the presence in weekend headache prone subjects of a particular psychological background, different from that of common migraine sufferers. In order to detect possible differences supporting our hypothesis, we studied 104 new outpatients: 46 patients suffering from headache only on weekends (23 males and 23 females) and 58 matched common migraineurs (26 males and 32 females) with no weekend predilection. The psychological assessment was performed using the following psychometric tools: MMPI, BDI, STAIX1-X2. A clinical assessment of each patient was also carried out. Significant differences were found after statistically analyzing the test results. Most of the MMPI scales were found to be more elevated in both male and female weekend headache sufferers. From a clinical point of view, the weekend headache attacks proved to be similar to those of common migraine, but with a significantly higher incidence of concomitant symptoms. Our study confirms the important role that psychological factors play in the pathogenesis and clinical development of migraine and leads us to conclude that a psychic tension component is associated with the vascular one in weekend headache.

SYNOPSIS Since in migraineurs a change in dopaminergic tone has been hypothesized and since in man prolactin secretionby the lactotroph cells is controlled by hypothalamic inhibitory factors (of which dopamine is the best known), wedecided to investigate plasma prolactin (PRL) response to L‐Dopa in a group of migraineurs.We tested 5 women suffering from common migraine and 5 healthy women as controls.A different behaviour of PRL secretion was observed in the two groups. In migraineurs the inhibition of PRLsecretion was less marked than in normals, with a statistically significant difference at 30 and 60 minutes.This difference might suggest a reduced responsiveness of the pituitary lactotroph cells to the action ofdopaminergic agents. The mechanisms accounting for this peculiar behaviour of PRL secretion in migraineurs arestill to be elucidated.