IL‐6 Levels in Migraine Patients Receiving Topiramate

Abstract

There is considerable evidence suggesting that cytokines play important roles in pain and in mediating neurovascular inflammation associated with migraine headaches. Although consensus exists to recommend topiramate (TPM) for migraine prevention, the mechanism of action in this regard is unknown. We measured serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in 66 migraine patients. Of these patients, 23 (34.9%) were taking TPM for migraine, and 43 (65.1%) were not. The IL-6 levels were compared with those of healthy controls without migraine, from the population living in the same region. The mean IL-6 levels in migraine patients taking TPM and patients who did not were 67.06 +/- 92.09 pg/mL and 44.09 +/- 59.19 pg/mL, respectively (P > 0.05). The IL-6 levels were higher in the patients taking TPM. The IL-6 level in the controls was 8.60 +/- 7.36 pg/mL, which was significantly lower than the patient group using TPM (P = 0.001). Our results show that, although IL-6 may be involved in pain induction or inflammatory mechanisms of migraine attacks, the serum IL-6 level was not reduced in migraine patients receiving TPM therapy. In conclusion, we found high IL-6 levels in migraine patients both with and without TPM therapy, suggesting that high IL-6 levels during pain-free periods could be a conditioning factor, making patients more vulnerable to pain attacks in chronic migraine. Further studies investigating the possible mechanism of TPM in migraine are needed.

Diet‐Induced Obesity Enhances TRPV1‐Mediated Neurovascular Reactions in the Dura Mater

“…38 The lower food consumption and higher fluid and calorie intakes in HFHS-fed animals are in agreement with previous reports in which the energy density and palatability of the diet were manipulated in a similar way. [42][43][44] The function of trigeminal nociceptors can be assessed by studying vascular responses in relation to neuropeptide release from dural afferents. The present findings demonstrate that our animal model of diet-induced obesity possessed many of the metabolic alterations that have been previously suggested to be associated with obesity as well as with the pathophysiology of migraine.…”

IL-1β Stimulates COX-2 Dependent PGE2 Synthesis and CGRP Release in Rat Trigeminal Ganglia Cells

“…Among others, IL-1β and TNFα levels were elevated in jugular vein blood during migraine attacks [5], [6]. Plasma levels of IL-6 were also increased in patients with migraine compared to healthy controls [7]. Furthermore, enhanced expression of IL-1β was found in the meninges in an experimental animal model related to migraine [8].…”

Impact of mood stabilizers and antiepileptic drugs on cytokine production in-vitro

“…The modulation of cytokine production by LTG, TPM and LEV has been subject to small exploratory studies, but not systematically in-vitro or in-vivo (Neuman et al, 2012;Kim et al, 2010;Koçer et al, 2009). Systematic investigation of the modulation of cytokine production by AEDs would clarify whether AEDs with mood stabilizing properties differ from AEDs without clear mood stabilizing effects.…”