title: Interictal plasma pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide levels are decreased in migraineurs but remain unchanged in patients with tension-type headache.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is associated with migraine phase; however, whether PACAP levels could be used to distinguish between migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) remains unknown. We compared interictal plasma PACAP levels among healthy controls, migraineurs, and patients with TTH.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interictal plasma levels of PACAP were measured in 133 migraineurs, 106 patients with TTH, and 50 controls using enzyme-linked immunoassays. We further evaluated the relationships between interictal PACAP plasma concentrations and clinical parameters, such as headache severity, attack frequency, and duration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that migraineurs had significantly lower interictal plasma PACAP levels than patients with TTH and healthy controls. However, there were no significant differences between patients with TTH and healthy controls. Plasma PACAP levels were significantly lower in patients with episodic migraine (EM) than in patients with episodic tension-type headache (ETTH) and in patients with chronic migraine (CM) than in patients with chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). Interictal PACAP levels were negatively correlated with duration in the CM group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study demonstrated differences in interictal PACAP levels in migraine and TTH, suggesting that PACAP is involved in the pathogenesis of migraine rather than TTH.
authors: Medical Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
authors: Xun
authors: X
authors: Han
authors: Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
authors: Zhao
authors: Z
authors: Dong
authors: Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Hou
authors: Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
authors: Dongjun
authors: D
authors: Wan
authors: Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
authors: Wenjing
authors: W
authors: Tang
authors: Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China. Electronic address: yusy1963@126.com.
authors: Shengyuan
authors: S
authors: Yu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide / Q000097:blood*; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051219:Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide
keywords: Migraine; Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide; Plasma; Tension-type headache