High sensitivity C-reactive protein and risk of migraine in a 11-year follow-up with data from the Nord-Trøndelag health surveys 2006–2008 and 2017–2019

Abstract

Background: Several previous studies have reported a cross-sectional association between elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and migraine. The aim of this population-based follow-up study was to investigate the influence of hs-CRP at baseline on the risk of developing migraine 11 years later. Methods: Data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study performed in 2006-2008 (baseline) and 2017-2019 were used. A total of 19,574 participants without migraine at baseline were divided into three groups based on hs-CRP levels (< 3 mg/L, 3-9.99 mg/L and 10.00-20 mg/L). Poisson regression was used to evaluate the associations between hs-CRP levels and risk ratios (RRs) of migraine, and precision of the estimates was assessed by 95% confidence interval (CIs). Results: In the multi-adjusted model, increased risk of migraine (RR 1.46, 95% CI 1.05-2.04) was found in the highest hs-CRP levels group compared to the lowest group. In the group with the highest hs-CRP levels, a nearly three times higher risk of chronic migraine (RR 2.81, 95% CI 1.12-7.06) was found, whereas no evident relationship was found between high hs-CRP level and risk of developing episodic migraine. Conclusions: The main finding in this 11-year follow-up was that hs-CRP levels between 10.00-20.00 mg/L at baseline was associated with increased risk of chronic migraine.

Migraine, Brain Glucose Metabolism and the “Neuroenergetic” Hypothesis: A Scoping Review

“…Indeed, although they are produced peripherally, the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-12 are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier [135] and therefore, of hindering the action of insulin in the brain [1]. Interestingly, there is evidence that migraineurs have higher hs-CRP levels than controls [125] and that there is a stronger association with chronic migraine [83].…”

“…A population-based prospective study investigated the influence highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) at baseline had on the risk of developing migraine 11 years later. The results reported that the group with the highest hs-CRP levels had an almost three-fold higher risk of developing chronic migraine [83]. Another recent large-scale population-based study reported that elevated hs-CRP was associated with headache ≥ 7 days/month, especially for migraine with aura [82].…”

Metabolic profile changes in serum of migraine patients detected using 1H-NMR spectroscopy

“…Several biochemical studies in migraine in the past two decades explored the targeted approach by examining a limited number of compounds, such as amino acids [19,20], inflammatory markers [21][22][23], vasoactive neuropeptides [24][25][26], and (cardio) vascular risk factors [27][28][29], because of their presumed role in migraine pathophysiology. More recently, mainly because of the advent of novel treatment antagonizing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) or its receptor [30,31], the field of biomarker research in peripheral blood regained interest [32], with reports of promising possible peripheral biomarkers in migraine [33,34].…”

5‐hydroxytryptamine in migraine: The puzzling role of ionotropic 5‐HT3 receptor in the context of established therapeutic effect of metabotropic 5‐HT1 subtypes

“…Despite the proposed role of local meningeal neuroinflammation in migraine (Levy et al, 2007;Moskowitz, 2008) along with microgliamediated neuroinflammation in the CNS contributing to central sensitization (Jiang et al, 2021), the still open issue is whether migraine lasting for decades is associated with systematic inflammatory processes associated with involvement of immune cells. However, the recent evidence indicated a specific involvement of certain immune cells such as Treg cells with acquired pro-inflammatory profile in migraine (Nurkhametova et al, 2018) and an increase of C-reactive protein in chronic migraine (Hagen et al, 2020). As 5-HT can be produced in the periphery and be released to the blood, it can also function as a potent immune modulator via 5-HT receptors expressed in immune cells.…”