In people who suffer from migraine with aura, splitting headaches are often preceded by cortical spreading depression (SD), a wave of neuronal excitation and prolonged depolarization that progressively renders brain tissue inactive.
Studies have suggested that the epilepsy drug pregabalin might help treat migraine with aura, but the drug’s efficacy remains unestablished.
Using live brain imaging, researchers. examined the drug’s effects on mouse models of mild and severe forms of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM1), which is caused by distinct mutations in a subunit of a voltage-gated calcium channel.
SD reached the brain’s striatum and hippocampus in both forms of the disease, with the mild form displaying a delayed effect; the cerebellum was spared in wild-type and mutant mice. Pregabalin, which binds to the α2δ1 subunit of CaV2.1 calcium channels, raised the threshold of SD initiation in wild-type but not FHM1 mutant mice.
Conversely, the drug slowed SD spread in FHM1 but not wild-type mice, and prevented the wave from invading the brain’s subcortical structures in the mild but not the severe form of the disease.
Moreover, the drug attenuated synaptic activity in CA1 neurons in hippocampal slices from wild-type mice and mice with the mild mutation. According to the authors, pregabalin might represent a potential treatment for mild forms of FHM1 as well as noncongenital migraine.
Latest News
Abusive drugs hijack natura…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Mechanism of action of the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Role of fat in rare neurolo…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
How protein synthesis in de…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Atlas of mRNA variants in d…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Apr
Other Top Stories
Ultrasound disruption of blood-brain barrier
Read more
Visualizing gene expression with MRI
Read more
Imaging retinal ganglion cells
Read more
A biosensor to detect tumors at early stages
Read more
First cell culture of live adult human neurons shows potential of b…
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Exploiting pancreatic cance…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Structure of antiviral drug…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Type-I-interferon-responsiv…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Selenium, diabetes, and the…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Long-term neuropsychologica…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar