Decreased sTNF-RI in migraine patients?
Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) have recently been found to have a pain-mediating function in addition to their immunological, proinflammatory function. According to the hypothesis of neurovascular inflammation in migraine, these two cytokines could contribute to migraine pain generation. We analysed IL-6 and its soluble receptors sIL-6R and sgp130 as well as TNF-alpha and its soluble receptor sTNF-RI in 27 migraine patients and eight headache-free controls. Migraine patients tended to have less sTNF-RI (794 +/- 158 pg/ml) than controls (945 +/- 137 pg/ml). No differences in cytokine concentrations were observed. If TNF-alpha plays a role in migraine physiopathology, migraine patients may lack sufficient antagonistic sTNF-RI to neutralize hyperalgesic TNF-alpha during a migraine attack.
Empl
M
M
Department of Neurology, University of Munich, Germany. mempl@ion.ucl.ac.uk
Sostak
P
P
Riedel
M
M
Schwarz
M
M
Müller
N
N
Förderreuther
S
S
Straube
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000097:blood; D000068800:Etanercept; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D015850:Interleukin-6; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D000068800:Etanercept