title: Fathoming the kynurenine pathway in migraine: why understanding the enzymatic cascades is still critically important.
abstract: Kynurenine pathway, the quantitatively main branch of tryptophan metabolism, has been long been considered a source of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, although several of its products, the so-called kynurenines, are endowed with the capacity to activate glutamate receptors, thus potentially influencing a large group of functions in the central nervous system (CNS). Migraine, a largely unknown pathology, is strictly related to the glutamate system in the CNS pathologic terms. Despite the large number of studies conducted on migraine etio-pathology, the kynurenine pathway has been only recently linked to this disease. Nonetheless, some evidence suggests an intriguing role for some kynurenines, and an exploratory study on the serum kynurenine level might be helpful to better understand possible alterations of the kynurenine pathway in patients suffering from migraine.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Unit, Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs (NESMOS) Department, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Curto
authors.forename: Luana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lionetto
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.forename: Dimos-Dimitrios
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Mitsikostas
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martelletti
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007737:Kynurenine / Q000502:physiology*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D007737:Kynurenine