Novel Therapeutic Targets for Chronic Migraine
Abstract
Chronic migraine is a disabling disorder that affects millions of individuals worldwide, and may result from traumatic brain injury. The purpose of this study is to use rodent models of basic migraine mechanisms to characterize new potential treatments for chronic migraine. The scope of the research is to investigate multiple novel potential drug treatments on migraine-related brain excitability, pain-sensing mechanisms, and behavior. The major findings of the research in the first year of the project are that the medication amiloride inhibits the phenomenon of cortical spreading depression, a wave of activity that is believed to underlie the migraine aura. Amiloride also prevents the development chronic migraine-related hyperalgesia in mice. These results support the clinical investigation of amiloride and related drugs as treatments for chronic migraine. We have also found that the drug memantine inhibits cortical spreading depression, but acute treatment with memantine does not inhibit nociceptive signaling in the brainstem. These results are consistent with the potential efficacy of memantine as a preventive therapy, but not as an acute therapy for migraine. We have also found that delta opioid receptor agonists inhibit both cortical spreading depression and migraine related pain behaviors, also supporting the clinical investigation of these compounds. Overall, we have made significant progress in the characterization of novel potential therapies for chronic migraine.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA566633
Entities
People
- Andrew Charles
- Peter Goadsby
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles