Migraine articles from across Nature Portfolio

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide signalling has been linked to migraine pathogenesis. In this Review, Ashina and co-workers explore the molecular and cellular mechanisms of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide signalling and discuss emerging therapeutic strategies to target this pathway for migraine treatment.

OnabotulinumtoxinA was first linked to beneficial effects in migraine 25 years ago and has since become a widely used treatment for chronic migraine. In this Review, Pozo-Rosich and colleagues consider the impact that onabotulinumtoxinA has had on the management of chronic migraine and on the research field.

Results from a phase III trial have set zavegepant as the first intranasal gepant to be approved by the FDA for the acute treatment of migraine. The therapeutic benefits were modest, however, and more work is needed to address unmet treatment needs.

A new paper published in Neuron presents an analysis of mRNA expression in human and mouse trigeminal ganglia at single-nucleus resolution. The resulting resource is thought-provoking and suggests new targets for pain therapies; however, the findings should be interpreted in the context of the available protein data and warrant functional verification.

Results of two recent studies by Messoud Ashina and colleagues demonstrate that infusion of two different potassium channel openers can trigger migraine in humans; one of the compounds also triggered aura in patients diagnosed with migraine with aura. The findings highlight the importance of human experimental models in migraine research.