Significant short-term effects of the respiratory muscle training programme on respiratory muscle function, exercise capacity and quality of life were recorded in this study.

Chromatography is an important biophysical technique that enables the separation, identification, and purification of the components of a mixture for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Proteins can be purified based on characteristics such as size and shape, total charge, hydrophobic groups present on the surface, and binding capacity with the stationary phase. Four separation techniques based on molecular characteristics and interaction type use mechanisms of ion exchange, surface adsorption, partition, and size exclusion. Other chromatography techniques are based on the stationary bed, including column, thin layer, and paper chromatography. Column chromatography is one of the most common methods of protein purification.

The molecular mechanisms of migraine have not been fully clarified yet. Increased nitrosative and oxidative stress may be associated with migraine attacks. Platelets may play an important role in migraine patients and they can reflect the lability of tissues to nitrosative/oxidative stress. In the present study, we aimed to determine the levels of nitrosative and oxidative stress markers in platelets of migraine patients during headache-free and attack periods. A total of 56 subjects (22 migraine without aura, 14 migraine with aura, and 20 age-and sex-matched healthy controls) were included in the study and nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, malondialdehyde (MDA), and thiol (SH) groups were measured in platelets. During migraine attacks, platelet levels of nitrate, nitrite and MDA were significantly higher in migraineurs than these in control subjects ( p = 0.042, p = 0.005 and p = 0.042, respectively). By contrast, during headache-free period, no statistically significant differences were found in the platelet levels of nitrate, nitrite and MDA between migraineurs and controls ( p > 0.05), although the marginal increases were detected in migraineurs. These results suggest that increased biomarkers of nitrosative and oxidative stress in platelets may be important in migraine patients, especially during attacks; increase of NO metabolites in platelets during attacks supports the opinion that NO may play a modulatory role in biological processes particularly by vasodilatation in migraine attacks. Therefore, MDA and NO metabolites may serve as useful markers to show the increased vulnerability to nitrosative and oxidative stress in migraine patients. headache; migraine; nitric oxide; oxidative stress; nitrosative stress

Migraine patients have an increased risk to develop deep white matter hyperintensities (WMH) than the general population. Oxidative stress is believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of migraine. The present study was undertaken to assess oxidant/antioxidant balance of migraineurs with and without WMH. We hypothesized that increased oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant response may play a role in the pathophysiology of WMH in migraineurs. The study included 32 patients in the migraine group and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects without headache in the control group. The migraine group comprised 18 with WMH and 14 without WMH. We evaluated oxidative status with malondialdehyde (MDA) and to determine the activities of antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase (CAT) in serum of migraineurs and controls. Comparison of the patient and control groups for oxidative parameters revealed significantly lower level of CAT and higher level of MDA in the patient group. Two-way comparison for CAT and MDA of the migraine with and without WMH and the controls revealed that CAT serum level significantly decreased in migraine patients with WMH than migraine patients without WMH and controls. In this preliminary study, we demonstrated that the levels of CAT were decreased in migraine patients with WMH compared to patients without WMH and controls. These findings suggest that decreased antioxidant response may play a role in the pathophysiology of WMH in migraineurs. Besides, our results encourage the new treatment and follow-up options based on antioxidant systems.

Background and objective Somatosensory temporal discrimination was recently reported as prolonged during migraine attacks, which is consistent with disrupted sensorial perception in migraine. However, knowledge about central sensory processing in tension-type headache is still lacking. This prospective, controlled study aimed to investigate somatosensory temporal discrimination thresholds in tension-type headache. Methods The study included 10 tension-type headache patients, 10 migraine patients and 10 healthy volunteers without headache. Somatosensory temporal discrimination thresholds were evaluated during the headache attacks of tension-type headache and migraine patients. Results Somatosensory temporal discrimination thresholds of tension-type headache patients (39.0 ± 5.5 ms for the right hand and 40.6 ± 4.6 ms for the left hand) were significantly lower than those of episodic migraine patients (137.1 ± 35.8 ms for the right hand and 118.4 ± 34.3 ms for the left hand, p < 0.0001 and p < 0.0001 respectively), and comparable to those of healthy volunteers (38.6 ± 5.3 ms for the right hand and 38.3 ± 7.2 ms for the left hand, p = 0.79 and p = 0.45 respectively). Conclusion Central sensory processing, as tested by somatosensory temporal discrimination, was remarkably disrupted during the headache attacks in migraineurs, whereas it remained intact in the tension-type headache patients.