Background: Migraine is a prevalent disease with much economic burden and relatively inadequate available treatment. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is the most abundant neuropeptide in the trigeminal nerve and it may be involved in the pathogenesis of migraine. The aim of the study was to determine the plasma level of CGRP in patients with primary headache, and if it could be a potential biomarker for migraine. Methods: The study involved four groups with 20 patients in each one: chronic migraine, episodic migraine, cluster headache and tension type headache subjects, as well as healthy volunteers of matched age and sex as controls. Their venous blood was drawn, plasma was separated, and CGRP was analyzed with commercially available ELISA kit. Results: Plasma CGRP levels were significantly increased in chronic migraine (165.0 ± 17.9 ng/L, range 131.8-194.6) as compared with control group (70.5 ± 8.36 ng/L, range 51.7-83.65), patients with episodic migraine (94.1 ± 17.83 ng/L, range 69.6-121.9), and patients with cluster headache and tension type headache (87.2 ± 13.8 ng/L, range 62.8-110.8). Plasma CGRP levels in chronic migraine were significantly higher in patients with aura (191.32 ± 5.09, range 185.45-194.60) than without aura (160.30 ± 14.93, range 131.80-186.0), and in episodic migraine were significantly higher in patients with aura (109.88 ± 7.54, range 100.70-116.30) than without aura (90.16 ± 17.56, range 69.60-121.90). Conclusion: The plasma CGRP levels were elevated in patients with chronic migraine and may be considered a potential biomarker for it. This opens the door for a therapeutic role of it for migraine.

Background: Some studies showed that copeptin, a hypothalamic hormone derived from the precursor of vasopressin, may be useful in the prediction of outcome of ischemic cerebral stroke. The aim of this work was to search if there is any correlation between serum copeptin, in the first day of ischemic stroke, and its clinical severity, radiological findings and also its predictive value of functional outcome in these patients.