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Objective: To evaluate the long-term effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of erenumab in a real-world migraine population, looking for putative predictors of responsiveness. Background: Erenumab proved to be effective, safe, and well tolerated in the prevention of episodic migraine (EM) and chronic migraine (CM) in long-term extension studies of double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in patients with no more than two (EM) or three (CM) prior preventive treatment failures. Methods: A 48-week, multicenter, longitudinal cohort real-life study was conducted at 15headache centers across eight Italian regions between December 20, 2018 and July 31, 2020. We considered all consecutive patients with high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) or CM aged 18–65years. Each patient was treated with erenumab 70mg, administered monthly. The dose was switched to 140mg in nonresponders and in responders who had become nonresponders for at least 4weeks. Change in monthly migraine days (MMDs) or monthly headache days (MHDs) at Weeks 45–48 compared with baseline was the primary efficacy endpoint. Secondary endpoints encompassed variation in monthly analgesic intake, achievement of a ≥50%, ≥75%, or 100% reduction in migraine or headache days, and any change in the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Headache Impact Test-6 scores (HIT-6) during the same time interval. Results: A total of 242 patients with migraine received at least one dose of erenumab 70mg and were considered for safety analysis, whereas 221 received a monthly erenumab dose for ≥48weeks and were included in the effectiveness and safety analysis set. All patients had previously been treated unsuccessfully with ≥3migraine-preventive medication classes. From baseline to Weeks 45–48, erenumab treatment reduced MMD by 4.3±5.3(mean±SD) in patients with HFEM, and MHD by 12.8±8.9 (mean±SD) in subjects with CM. VAS and HIT-6scores were decreased by 1.8±1.9 (mean±SD) and 12.3±11 (mean±SD) in HFEM, and by 3.0±2.2 (mean±SD) and 13.1±11.2 (mean±SD) in CM. Median monthly analgesic intake passed from 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] 10.0–13.0) to 5 (IQR 2.0–8.0) in HFEM and from 20.0 (IQR 15.0–30.0) to 6.0 (IQR 3.8–10.0) in CM. The ≥50% responders were 56.1% (32/57) in HFEM and 75.6% (124/164) in CM; ≥75% responders were 31.6% (18/57) and 44.5% (73/164); and 100% responders were 8.8% (5/57) and 1.2% (2/164), respectively. At Week 48, 83.6% (137/164) of patients with CM had reverted to EM. Erenumab was safe and well tolerated. Responsiveness to erenumab was positively associated with cutaneous allodynia (OR: 5.44, 95% CI: 1.52–19.41; p=0.009) in HFEM. In patients with CM, ≥50% responsiveness was positively associated with male sex (OR: 2.99, 95% CI: 1.03–8.7; p=0.044) and baseline migraine frequency (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.05–1.20; p=0.001) and negatively associated with psychiatric comorbidities (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.15–0.87; p=0.023) and prior treatment failures (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.64–0.92; p=0.004). Conclusions: Long-term (48-week) erenumab treatment provides sustained effectiveness, safety, and tolerability in real-life patients with HFEM or CM with ≥3 prior preventive treatment failures. The dose of 140mg was required in most patients along the study and should be taken into consideration as the starting dose. Allodynia (in HFEM), male sex, and baseline migraine frequency (in CM) might represent positive responsiveness predictors. Conversely, psychiatric comorbidities and multiple prior preventive treatment failures could be negative predictors in patients with CM.

Background and purpose A rapid response to preventive therapy is of pivotal importance in severely disabled patients with chronic migraine (CM) and diverse preventive treatment failures. This prospective, observational, multicenter real-life study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of galcanezumab in the first 3 months of treatment of CM patients at 14 Italian headache centers. Methods All consecutive adult patients with CM diagnosis with the clinical indication for galcanezumab were considered. We collected patients' baseline characteristics, monthly headache days, monthly painkiller intake, migraine clinical characteristics, and disability scale scores during a 1-month run-in period (baseline) and the first 3 months of therapy. Possible predictive factors of treatment were considered. Results A total of 156 patients (82.4% female, aged 47.3 +/- 12.3 years) were enrolled. The 65 (41.7%) patients with a consecutive >= 50% response rate (RR) in the 3 months of therapy presented a lower body mass index (p = 0.004) and more frequently presented unilateral migraine pain (p = 0.002) and good response to triptans (p = 0.003). Persistent conversion from CM to episodic migraine was observed in 55.8% (87/156) of patients. They more frequently presented a good response to triptans (p = 0.003) and unilateral pain (p = 0.046). At baseline, 131 of 156 (83.9%) patients presented medication overuse (MO). Of these, 61.8% (81/131) no longer displayed MO consistently during the 3 months. These patients were more frequently responders to triptans (p = 0.002) and less frequently suffered from gastrointestinal comorbidity (p = 0.007). Conclusions Unilateral pain, good response to triptans, and normal weight may be associated with a persistent positive response in the first 3 months of therapy with galcanezumab in CM patients.

Background Monoclonal antibodies anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (mAbs anti-CGRP) pathway are effective and safe on migraine prevention. However, some drug agencies limited these treatments to one year due to their high costs. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of discontinuing mAbs anti-CGRP on monthly migraine days (MMDs) and disability in high-frequency episodic (HFEM) and chronic migraine (CM) patients. Methods This observational longitudinal cohort study was conducted at 10 Italian headache centres. Consecutive adult patients were followed-up for three months (F-UP1–3) after discontinuation of a one-year erenumab/galcanezumab treatment. The primary endpoint was the change in F-UP MMDs. Secondary endpoints included variation in pain intensity (Numerical Rating Scale, NRS), monthly acute medication intake (MAMI), and HIT-6 scores. We also assessed from F-UP1 to 3 the ≥50% response rate, relapse rate to CM, and recurrence of Medication Overuse (MO). Results We enrolled 154 patients (72.1% female, 48.2 ± 11.1 years, 107 CM, 47 HFEM); 91 were treated with erenumab, 63 with galcanezumab. From F-UP1 to F-UP3, MMDs, MAMI, NRS, and HIT-6 progressively increased but were still lower at F-UP3 than baseline (Friedman’s analysis of rank, p p = .032). Of the 84 baseline CM patients who had reverted to episodic migraine, 28 (33.3%) relapsed to CM at F-UP1, 35 (41.7%) at F-UP2, 39 (46.4%) at F-UP3. Of the 64 baseline patients suffering of medication overuse headache ceasing MO, 15 (18.3%) relapsed to MO at F-UP1, 26 (31.6%) at F-UP2, and 30 (42.3%, 11 missing data) at F-UP3. Lower MMDs, MAMI, NRS, and HIT-6 and higher response rate in the last month of therapy characterized patients with ≥50% response rate at F-UP1 and F-UP3 (Mann-Whitney U test; consistently p Conclusion Migraine frequency and disability gradually increased after mAbs anti-CGRP interruption. Most patients did not relapse to MO or CM despite the increase in MMDs. Our data suggest to reconsider mAbs anti-CGRP discontinuation.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of erenumab in a real-life migraine population, while trying to identify responsiveness predictors. Background: Erenumab is a fully human Ig-2 monoclonal antibody blocking the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, indicated for migraine prophylaxis. Phase II and III trials demonstrated that erenumab is effective, safe, and well tolerated in the prevention of episodic and chronic migraine (CM), showing an early onset of action. Methods: This is a multicenter, prospective, cohort, and real-life study. We considered for enrolment all consecutive patients aged 18–65 affected by high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) or CM, with or without medication overuse, visited at nine Italian Headache Centers from December 20, 2018 to September 30, 2019. Each patient was treated with erenumab 70mg, administered subcutaneously every 4weeks. Treatment duration was planned to last from 6 to 12months, depending on the patient's response. The primary endpoint was the change in monthly migraine days (MMDs) at weeks 9–12 compared to baseline. Secondary endpoints included changes in monthly analgesics intake, ≥50%, ≥75%, and 100% responder rates and any variation in the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Headache Impact Test scores (HIT). Results: In total, 372 migraine patients were treated with at least one dose of erenumab 70mg. At weeks 9–12, erenumab decreased MMDs by 4.5±4.1days (mean±SD) in patients with HFEM and by 9.3±9.1 (mean±SD) days in those with CM compared to baseline. At weeks 9–12 VAS score was reduced by 1.9±1.9 (mean±SD), HIT score by 10.7±8.8 (mean±SD), and median monthly analgesics intake passed from 12.0 (interquartile range [IQR] 10.0–14.0) to 5.0 (IQR 3.0–7.0) in HFEM. In CM patients, VAS was reduced by 1.7±2.0 (mean±SD), HIT by 9.7±10.4 (mean±SD), and median monthly analgesics intake passed from 20.0 (IQR 15.0–30.0) to 8.0 (IQR 5.0–15.0). At week 12, ≥50% responders were 60/101 (59.4%) for HFEM and 146/263 (55.5%) for CM, ≥75% responders were 17/101 (16.8%) and 59/263 (22.4%) and 100% responders 1/101 (1.0%) and 3/263 (1.1%), respectively. Erenumab responsiveness in HFEM was positively associated with unilateral pain localization (OR: 3.03, 95% CI: 1.24–7.40; p=0.015), whereas in CM responsiveness was positively associated with and baseline migraine frequency (OR: 1.06, 95% CI:1.02–1.11; p=0.031), dopaminergic symptoms (OR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.14–3.52; p=0.015), and negatively associated with psychiatric comorbidities (OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.20–0.93; p=0.003). Conclusions: Erenumab 70mg is effective, safe, and well tolerated in real life. Easily obtainable clinical features might be of help in predicting patient's responsiveness.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown came as a storm disrupting people’s everyday life. This study aimed at observing whether the COVID-19 related lockdown influenced migraine frequency and disability in migraine patients on therapy with monoclonal antibodies inhibiting the CGRP pathway. Methods: In this longitudinal observational cohort study, 147 consecutive patients receiving monthly administration of erenumab or galcanezumab were enrolled in four Italian headache centers. All patients filled a questionnaire concerning working and household settings, recent flu symptoms or COVID-19 diagnosis, and family loss due to COVID-19 infection. Monthly migraine days (MMDs), monthly painkiller intake (MPI), and HIT-6 disability relative to the first month of lockdown imposition (T-lock) and the month before (T-free) were also collected. Results: From T-free to T-lock, the cohort displayed a reduction in MMDs (from 10.5 ± 7.6 to 9.8 ± 7.6, p =.024) and HIT-6 scores (from 59.3 ± 8.3 men reduced MPI more frequently than women (p =.005). Conclusions: Our study observed that the lockdown impact to 57.8 ± 8.8, p=.009), while MPI resulted unchanged (from 11.6 ± 11.5 to 11.1 ± 11.7; p =.114). MMDs, MPI, and HIT-6 variations from T-free to T-lock did not differ according to work settings or household. Patients beyond the first 3 months of therapy presented less often a reduction in MMDs (p =.006) and on everyday life did not affect the migraine load in patients receiving monoclonal antibodies inhibiting the CGRP pathway. Patients in the first months of therapy experienced a greater improvement according to drug pharmacokinetics, while women more frequently needed rescue medications, possibly indicating presenteeism or cephalalgophobia.

Purpose Migraine is an exclusively human chronic disorder with ictal manifestations characterized by a multifaceted clinical complexity pointing to a cerebral cortical involvement. The present review is aimed to cover the clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological literature on the role of the cerebral cortex in migraine pathophysiology. Overview Converging clinical scenarios, advanced neuroimaging data, and experimental neurophysiological findings, indicate that fluctuating excitability, plasticity, and metabolism of cortical neurons represent the pathophysiological substrate of the migraine cycle. Abnormal cortical responsivity and sensory processing coupled to a mismatch between the brain's energy reserve and workload may ignite the trigeminovascular system, leading to the migraine attack through the activation of subcortical brain trigeminal and extra-trigeminal structures, and driving its propagation and maintenance. Discussion The brain cortex emerges as the crucial player in migraine, a disorder lying at the intersection between neuroscience and daily life. Migraine disorder stems from an imbalance in inhibitory/excitatory cortical circuits, responsible for functional changes in the activity of different cortical brain regions encompassing the neurolimbic-pain network, and secondarily allowing a demodulation of subcortical areas, such as hypothalamus, amygdala, and brainstem nuclei, in a continuous mutual crosstalk.

Headaches are among the most prevalent and disabling neurologic disorders and there are several unmet needs as current pharmacological options are inadequate in treating patients with chronic headache, and a growing interest focuses on nutritional approaches as non-pharmacological treatments. Among these, the largest body of evidence supports the use of the ketogenic diet (KD). Exactly 100 years ago, KD was first used to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, but subsequent applications of this diet also involved other neurological disorders. Evidence of KD effectiveness in migraine emerged in 1928, but in the last several year’s different groups of researchers and clinicians began utilizing this therapeutic option to treat patients with drug-resistant migraine, cluster headache, and/or headache comorbid with metabolic syndrome. Here we describe the existing evidence supporting the potential benefits of KDs in the management of headaches, explore the potential mechanisms of action involved in the efficacy in-depth, and synthesize results of working meetings of an Italian panel of experts on this topic. The aim of the working group was to create a clinical recommendation on indications and optimal clinical practice to treat patients with headaches using KDs. The results we present here are designed to advance the knowledge and application of KDs in the treatment of headaches.

Background Dopaminergic symptoms may be extremely pronounced in some migraine patients during the attack, representing a major source of disability. Objectives We aimed to carefully characterize the clinical picture of migraine patients with dopaminergic symptoms in a large patients’ population as a putative migraine endophenotype, allowing more precise disease management, treatment and outcome prediction. Methods We screened 1148 consecutive tertiary care episodic and chronic migraine patients with face-to-face interviews collecting thorough data on lifestyle, socio-demographic factors, and clinical migraine features. Results We identified 374 patients with migraine with dopaminergic symptoms (32.6%). The most frequent dopaminergic symptom was yawning followed by somnolence, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, mood changes and diuresis. Migraine patients with dopaminergic symptoms had longer attack duration (OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.41–2.36, p Conclusions Migraine patients with dopaminergic symptoms are characterized by a full-blown, more disabling migraine. Dopaminergic system modulation should be carefully considered in individuals with migraine with dopaminergic symptoms for both acute and preventative treatments in future ad hoc designed studies.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Medication overuse is related to chronicization and medication-overuse headache. • Prediction of medication overuse (MO) is a challenge in the management of migraine. • Machine learning and random optimization could help to estimate MO risk in migraine. • A customized decision support system was devised for migraine clinical management. • This approach may exploit significant patterns in data connoting causality., Machine learning (ML) is largely used to develop automatic predictors in migraine classification but automatic predictors for medication overuse (MO) in migraine are still in their infancy. Thus, to understand the benefits of ML in MO prediction, we explored an automated predictor to estimate MO risk in migraine. To achieve this objective, a study was designed to analyze the performance of a customized ML-based decision support system that combines support vector machines and Random Optimization (RO-MO). We used RO-MO to extract prognostic information from demographic, clinical and biochemical data. Using a dataset of 777 consecutive migraine patients we derived a set of predictors with discriminatory power for MO higher than that observed for baseline SVM. The best four were incorporated into the final RO-MO decision support system and risk evaluation on a five-level stratification was performed. ROC analysis resulted in a c-statistic of 0.83 with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.69 and 0.87, respectively, and an accuracy of 0.87 when MO was predicted by at least three RO-MO models. Logistic regression analysis confirmed that the derived RO-MO system could effectively predict MO with ORs of 5.7 and 21.0 for patients classified as probably (3 predictors positive), or definitely at risk of MO (4 predictors positive), respectively. In conclusion, a combination of ML and RO – taking into consideration clinical/biochemical features, drug exposure and lifestyle – might represent a valuable approach to MO prediction in migraine and holds the potential for improving model precision through weighting the relative importance of attributes.

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Objective: To develop a dedicated Italian chronic migraine (CM) database (IRON project) to overcome disease misconceptions, improve clinical administration, reduce patients' burden, and rationalize economic resource allotment.Background: Proper CM management requires a comprehensive appraisal of its full clinical, social, and economic complexity.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, CM patients were screened in 24 certified headache centers with face-to-face interviews. Information on sociodemographic factors, medical history, characteristics of CM, and of prior episodic migraine (EM), and healthcare resource use was gathered using a semistructured web-based questionnaire.Results: A total of 866 CM patients were enrolled. CM started similar to 20 years after EM onset (age at EM onset 17.4 +/- 9.1 vs. age at CM onset 35.3 +/- 12.5 [mean +/- SD]). CM prophylaxis, used by 430/866 (49.6%) of the patients, was often ineffective, not tolerated, and prematurely discontinued. Medications and diagnostic workup, frequently inappropriate, were mostly subsidized by the Italian national health service. CM patients with >= 25 headache days/month revealed substantial clinical differences and heavier disability and economic burden compared with those with

Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) enzyme activity is modulated at the genetic level by the presence of several polymorphisms. Among these, the 19-bp insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism (rs72393728/rs141116007) was investigated in several genetic association studies for its correlation with the susceptibility to develop episodic migraine, but conflicting results were achieved. In the present study we analyzed this genetic variant in a carefully characterized population of migraineurs encompassing both episodic and chronic migraine (with and without medication overuse) with the aim to perform a replication study and verify any possible correlation with migraine endophenotypes. Genotyping of the DBH 19-bp I/D polymorphism was performed on 400 migraine patients and 204 healthy individuals. The associations between genotypic frequencies and the clinical and sociodemographic features of migraineurs were then investigated. The DBH 19-bp I/D polymorphism did not correlate with migraine susceptibility or most clinical variables, with the exception of a statistically significant correlation within the subgroup of patients affected by chronic migraine were the individuals carrying the deleted (D) allele were significantly more prone to abuse in analgesics. As a result of this finding, the DBH 19-bp I/D polymorphism does not influence migraine susceptibility, but it might contribute to the development of medication overuse in patient with chronic migraine.

Botulinum neurotoxin is widely used for the treatment of central and peripherical neurological conditions. Initially used to treat strabismus, over the years its use has been expanded also to spasticity and other neurological disorders. This review summarizes the evidence from the published literature regarding its effect on neuropathic pain. Almost all investigations were performed using onabotulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A). Most studies provided positive results, even though toxin formulation, dose, dilution, injection techniques, and sites are heterogeneous across studies. Future larger, high-quality, specifically designed clinical trials are warranted to confirm botulinum neurotoxin efficacy in neuropathic pain.

Background The PRESTO study of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS; gammaCore®) featured key primary and secondary end points recommended by the International Headache Society to provide Class I evidence that for patients with an episodic migraine, nVNS significantly increases the probability of having mild pain or being pain-free 2 h post stimulation. Here, we examined additional data from PRESTO to provide further insights into the practical utility of nVNS by evaluating its ability to consistently deliver clinically meaningful improvements in pain intensity while reducing the need for rescue medication. Methods Patients recorded pain intensity for treated migraine attacks on a 4-point scale. Data were examined to compare nVNS and sham with regard to the percentage of patients who benefited by at least 1 point in pain intensity. We also assessed the percentage of attacks that required rescue medication and pain-free rates stratified by pain intensity at treatment initiation. Results A significantly higher percentage of patients who used acute nVNS treatment (n = 120) vs sham (n = 123) reported a ≥ 1-point decrease in pain intensity at 30 min (nVNS, 32.2%; sham, 18.5%; P = 0.020), 60 min (nVNS, 38.8%; sham, 24.0%; P = 0.017), and 120 min (nVNS, 46.8%; sham, 26.2%; P = 0.002) after the first attack. Similar significant results were seen when assessing the benefit in all attacks. The proportion of patients who did not require rescue medication was significantly higher with nVNS than with sham for the first attack (nVNS, 59.3%; sham, 41.9%; P = 0.013) and all attacks (nVNS, 52.3%; sham, 37.3%; P = 0.008). When initial pain intensity was mild, the percentage of patients with no pain after treatment was significantly higher with nVNS than with sham at 60 min (all attacks: nVNS, 37.0%; sham, 21.2%; P = 0.025) and 120 min (first attack: nVNS, 50.0%; sham, 25.0%; P = 0.018; all attacks: nVNS, 46.7%; sham, 30.1%; P = 0.037). Conclusions This post hoc analysis demonstrated that acute nVNS treatment quickly and consistently reduced pain intensity while decreasing rescue medication use. These clinical benefits provide guidance in the optimal use of nVNS in everyday practice, which can potentially reduce use of acute pharmacologic medications and their associated adverse events. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02686034.

Trigeminal-targeted treatments (TTTs), the most specific and selective therapeutic migraine approach to date, are effective in approximately 60% of patients regardless of treatment type or mechanism, at least if used alone. Sixty percent is also the proportion of migraineurs who develop migraine-like episodes following experimental intravenous administration of trigeminal neuropeptides and roughly 60% is the percentage of patients with a unilateral migraine tracing the area of cutaneous distribution of the trigeminal ophthalmic branch. Hence, mechanisms other than the trigeminovascular activation are probably involved in the 40% of migraineurs who do not respond to TTTs. A closer cooperation between clinical and basic neuroscientists is needed to explore migraine models because only a careful appraisal of migraine endophenotypes may help to unravel their underlying multifaceted pathophysiological machinery.

Background and aims: Erenumab proved to be safe and well tolerated in a 5-year continuation of a 1-year double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Aim: to assess >48-week erenumab tolerability and safety in a real-world setting. Methods: In this long term (>48-week), multicenter (n = 15), longitudinal cohort real life study, we monitored all the adverse events emerged in consecutive adult patients with high-frequency episodic migraine (HFEM) or chronic migraine (CM) treated with monthly erenumab 70 mg or 140 mg from 20 December 2018 to 15 December 2020. Results: 442 patients (HFEM: 115;CM: 327) were treated with erenumab for >48 weeks: 209 (47.3%) patients were treated for 49–60 weeks, 132 (29.9%) for 61–72 weeks;73 (16.5%) for 73–84 weeks;21 (4.7%) for 85–100 weeks. Overall, >1 treatment emergent adverse event (TEAE) was reported by 136 (30.8%) [HFEM: 43 (37.4%);CM: 93 (28.4%)]. Most common TEAE were constipation (n = 66;14.9%), injection site erythema (n = 15;3.4%), and influenza (n = 7;1.6%). Serious adverse events (SAE) were reported by 8 patients (1.8%) and led to treatment discontinuation: severe constipation (n = 3), abdominal pain (n = 1), NSTEMI (n = 3), Covid-19 infection (n = 1). Only severe constipation was considered treatment-related SAE (0.45%). Conclusions: Conclusion: Erenumab is safe and well tolerated also in long-term treatment (>48 weeks) in real life.

To optimize chronic migraine (CM) ascertainment and phenotype definition, provide adequate clinical management and health care procedures, and rationalize economic resources allocation, we performed an exploratory multicenter pilot study aimed at establishing a CM database, the first step for developing a future Italian CM registry. We enrolled 63 consecutive CM patients in four tertiary headache centers screened with face-to-face interviews using an ad hoc dedicated semi-structured questionnaire gathering detailed information on life-style, behavioral and socio-demographic factors, comorbidities, and migraine features before and after chronicization and healthcare resource use. Our pilot study provided useful insights revealing that CM patients (1) presented in most cases symptoms of peripheral trigeminal sensitization, a relatively unexpected feature which could be useful to unravel different CM endophenotypes and to predict trigeminal-targeted treatments’ responsiveness; (2) had been frequently admitted to emergency departments; (3) had undergone, sometime repeatedly, unnecessary or inappropriate investigations; (4) got rarely illness benefit exemption or disability allowance only. We deem that the expansion of the database—shortly including many other Italian headache centers—will contribute to more precisely outline CM endophenotypes, hence improving management, treatment, and economic resource allocation, ultimately reducing CM burden on both patients and health system.

Introduction: Research has focused on serotonin (5-HT) 5-HT1D and 5-HT1F receptors to develop drugs acting through non-vasoconstrictive mechanisms for treating acute migraine and those targeting 5-HT2B and 5-HT7 receptors for preventing migraine.Areas covered: This paper reviews antimigraine drugs targeting 5-HT receptors in one phase I trial (sumatriptan iontophoretic transdermal system, TDS) and five phase II clinical trials (PNU-142633, LY334370, lasmiditan, NOX-188).Expert opinion: Data from our overview on investigational drugs in phase I and II clinical trials using the 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonist (sumatriptan TDS), 5-HT1D receptor agonist (PNU-142633), 5-HT1F receptor agonists (LY334370, lasmiditan) and a combined 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonist with nNOS inhibition (NOX-188) provided encouraging data for sumatriptan TDS and lasmiditan, disappointing results for PNU-142633, and promising findings for NOX-188. The 5-HT1F receptor agonist lasmiditan, a drug acting through non-vasoconstrictive mecha...

Background: Migraine is very common in women of childbearing age. Erenumab is a first-in-class anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody with a a favorable efficacy/tolerability profile. However, there are very limited data on its effects during pregnancy.Case presentation: We report a case of a 37-years-old woman affected by chronic migraine who became pregnant during erenumab treatment. At the time of her first visit at our Unit she was on prophylaxis with sodium valproate 600 mg/day reporting low efficacy (18 headache days/month) and tolerability (weight gain). She had already failed 5 prior preventative treatments. On the same day started erenumab 70 mg, tapering down valproate. Erenumab was rapidly effective, reducing migraine frequency (7 days/month) since the first administration. On the follow-up visit scheduled for the fifth erenumab administration, the patient informed us of her pregnancy, documented by appropriate serological test the day before. Erenumab was immediately stopped. The last erenumab administration was made on 04/07/2019, probably corresponding to the first two weeks of pregnancy. Serological fetal DNA test was normal. During the I pregnancy trimester the frequency of migraine increased up to 10 days/month, markedly improving and progressively disappearing during the II-III trimesters. Migraine attacks started again from the 34th week of pregnancy throughout delivery and breast feeding. No other adverse event or complication occurred during pregnancy. The baby, born by vaginal birth in healthy conditions, developed breastfeeding jaundice which progressively normalized over time.Conclusions: We document no complications, abnormalities, or adverse events in both the mother and the child, and a physiological normal course of pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding in the first report of erenumab exposure during pregnancy in a migraine patient. More data from clinical studies and post-marketing surveillance are necessary to confirm our findings.

Migraine is a pure human neurovascular disorder with no reliable corresponding animal model. The cerebral cortex (CC) has long been discussed as a crucial element of its complex mechanism. The present review considers the state of the art of experimental evidence on the involvement of CC in migraine. An ample series of research data points to a role of CC in the migraine process, also at the beginning of the attack, especially in the form with aura. However, in spite of several CC, peculiarities emerged in experimental settings, the enigma on their significance (cause or consequence of the disease?) remains. All in all, we believe that pure clinical observations and reasoning, i.e., its exclusive human nature and the precipitating role of stress, are still the most persuasive cues supporting the CC involvement in migraine.

Migraine is increasingly recognized as an extremely burdensome and disabling disorder in both children and adolescents. A proper treatment plan is needed to improve the quality of life of both children and families as well as to minimize the risk of disease progression.This review focuses on the current pharmacotherapy for acute migraine in pediatric populations, taking into account specific considerations for those drugs tested in randomized, placebo-controlled trials (RCTs).A large number of RCTs have documented the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of different compounds. Triptans appears more effective than placebo but results are variable and inconsistent. Almotriptan and rizatriptan are effective as oral formulations, as well as sumatriptan and zolmitriptan as both oral and nasal spray formulations. Adding non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reinforces triptan's effectiveness. Furthermore, small RCTs have documented both the efficacy of ibuprofen and the ineffectiveness of acetaminophen. Naproxen, ketoprofen, diclofenac, and indomethacin - NSAIDs effective in acute migraines in adults - should be tested also in pediatric subjects. Furthermore, the authors suggest that dopamine receptor antagonists should be considered in cases of severe migraines. Lastly, better designed RCTs are needed to fine-tune current therapeutic resources.

Aim: In the present case–control study, we investigated the correlation between the common ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and migraine. Materials & methods: Genotyping of the ACE I/D variant was performed in 502 Caucasian patients with migraine and 323 age-, sex- and race/ethnicity-matched healthy controls. We investigated associations between ACE genetic variants and sociodemographic and/or clinical features of migraineurs. Results: We found a significant association between ACE insertion/insertion (I/I) polymorphism and lower use of pharmacological prophylaxis in migraine patients with aura and in those with chronic migraine. Moreover, ACE I/I polymorphism was significantly more common in migraine patients with aura who had a negative family history of migraine. Conclusion: Our data suggest that although the ACE I/D polymorphism is not a direct risk factor for migraine, the ACE I/I genotype may influence the clinical feature of this disease being associated with reduced use of prophylactic agents in patients with migraine with aura and in those with chronic migraine. Original submitted 5 June 2013; Revision submitted 16 September 2013

The objective of this publication is to present a modeling system that allows investigating the possible climate change-driven effects of air pollutants on human health. The system connects global climate change to ambient air pollution concentrations that then are linked to epidemiological endpoints. The tool has been applied to quantify the future (2030, 2050 and 2100) impact on air pollution and health of two of the IPCC global climate scenarios over the cities: Madrid, Milan and London (zone Kensington-Chelsea) with different very high spatial resolutions (100, 200 and 10 meters) respect to the present (2011). Results indicate how ambient air pollutant concentrations respond to different climatic conditions, and how human health could be affected by changes in air pollution induced by global warning. The system includes global climate simulations, nested with regional/urban meteorological models (prognostic and diagnostic) to drive chemical transport models (offline and online modes) and a computational fluid dynamic model keeping anthropogenic emissions and the urban landscape at reference level (2011) to isolate the effects of the global climate over the city. The results of these simulations suggest that climate will have an important effect on urban air pollution and health over the next several decades, especially under the IPCC RCP 8.5 scenario.

Recent clinical experiences and clinical trials have demonstrated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS; gammaCore®) for the acute and prophylactic treatment of migraine. nVNS has a favorable adverse event profile, making it an attractive option for sensitive patient populations. We explored the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of nVNS as acute migraine treatment in adolescents. A group of adolescent patients suffering from migraine without aura were trained to use gammaCore to manage their migraine attacks. 46.8% of the treated migraine attacks (22/47) were considered successfully treated and did not require any rescue medication. No device-related adverse events were recorded. This preliminary study suggests that nVNS may represent a safe, well-tolerated, and effective for acute migraine treatment in adolescents.

Background: Migraine is the most common neurological disorder and the second most disabling human condition, whose pathogenesis is favored by a combination of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. In recent years, several efforts have been made to identify reliable biomarker(s) useful to monitor disease activity and/or ascertain the response to a specific treatment. Objective: To review the current evidence on the potential biological markers associated with migraine. Methods: A structured search of peer-reviewed research literature was performed by searching major publications databases up to December 2017. Results: Several circulating biomarkers have been proposed as diagnostic or therapeutic tools in migraine, mostly related to migraine’s inflammatory pathophysiological aspects. Nonetheless, their detection is still a challenge for the scientific community, reflecting, at least in part, disease complexity and clinical diagnostic limitations. At the present time, calcitonin generelated peptide (CGRP) represents probably the most promising candidate as a diagnostic and/or therapeutic biomarker, as its plasma levels are elevated during migraine attack and decrease during successful treatment. Other molecules (including some neuropeptides, cytokines, adipokines, or vascular activation markers) despite promising, do not possess the sufficient prerequisites to be considered as migraine biomarkers. Conclusion: The characterization of migraine-specific biomarkers would be fundamental in a perspective of precision medicine, enabling risk assessment and tailored treatments. However, speculating on the clinical validity of migraine biomarkers may be premature and controlled clinical trials are presently needed to investigate both the diagnostic and therapeutic value of these biomarkers in migraine.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS; gammaCore; electroCore, LLC, Basking Ridge, NJ) for the acute treatment of migraine in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial.MethodsA total of 248 participants with episodic migraine with/without aura were randomized to receive nVNS or sham within 20 minutes from pain onset. Participants were to repeat treatment if pain had not improved in 15 minutes.ResultsnVNS (n = 120) was superior to sham (n = 123) for pain freedom at 30 minutes (12.7% vs 4.2%; p = 0.012) and 60 minutes (21.0% vs 10.0%; p = 0.023) but not at 120 minutes (30.4% vs 19.7%; p = 0.067; primary endpoint; logistic regression) after the first treated attack. A post hoc repeated-measures test provided further insight into the therapeutic benefit of nVNS through 30, 60, and 120 minutes (odds ratio 2.3; 95% confidence interval 1.2, 4.4; p = 0.012). nVNS demonstrated benefits across other endpoints including pain relief at 120 minutes and was safe and well-tolerated.ConclusionThis randomized sham-controlled trial supports the abortive efficacy of nVNS as early as 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes after an attack. Findings also suggest effective pain relief, tolerability, and practicality of nVNS for the acute treatment of episodic migraine.ClinicalTrials.gov identifierNCT02686034.Classification of evidenceThis study provides Class I evidence that for patients with an episodic migraine, nVNS significantly increases the probability of having mild pain or being pain-free 2 hours poststimulation (absolute difference 13.2%).

Chronic migraine is a severely disabling headache evolving from episodic migraine as a result of different transforming factors and characterized by atypical pain modulation and peripheral and central sensitization. Discovered by serendipity, onabotulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) represents the only drug specifically approved for CM prophylaxis. According to the dominant opinion, BoNT-A acts peripherally, impairing the exocytosis of neuropeptide and neurotransmitter and the delivery of receptors and ion channels on the cell surface of peripheral trigeminal endings, thereby indirectly reducing central sensitization. However, it is not excluded that BoNT-A has also a central antinociceptive action, probably associated with an enhanced opioidergic and GABA-ergic transmission. This review discusses the rationale for use of BoNT-A in CM including its mechanisms of action and molecular targets and provides suggestions for a more tailored BoNT-A prophylaxis in patients with CM.

Autosomal dominant lateral temporal epilepsy (ADTLE) is an inherited epileptic syndrome characterized by ictal auditory symptoms or aphasia, negative MRI findings, and relatively benign evolution. Mutations responsible for ADLTE have been found in the LGI1 gene. The functions of the Lgi1 protein apparently are mediated by interactions with members of the ADAM protein family: it binds the postsynaptic receptor ADAM22 to regulate glutamate-AMPA currents at excitatory synapses and also the ADAM23 receptor to promote neurite outgrowth in vitro and dendritic arborization in vivo. Because alteration of each of these neuronal mechanisms may underlie ADLTE, ADAM22 and ADAM23 are candidate genes for this syndrome. In a previous work, we excluded a major role of ADAM22 in the aetiology of ADLTE. Here, we performed linkage analysis between microsatellite markers within or flanking the ADAM23 gene and ADLTE in 13 Italian families. The results exclude ADAM23 as major causative gene for ADLTE.

Ketogenic diet (KD) is an established treatment for refractory pediatric epilepsy and a promising therapy for diverse neurological diseases. Clinical data on KD in migraine-obtained from 150 patients investigated in case reports and prospective studies-suggest that KD may be a rapid onset effective prophylaxis for episodic and chronic migraine. KD would contribute to restore brain excitability and metabolism and to counteract neuroinflammation in migraine, although its precise mechanism is still unclear. Randomized controlled studies are needed to confirm the usefulness of KD in migraine and to investigate its optimal duration, repeatability, feasibility in normal weight subjects, efficacy in pediatric population and association to conventional migraine prophylaxis.

According to the existing classification chronic migraine (CM) is a primary headache that occurs on 15 or more days per month for more than 3 months and has the features of migraine on at least 8 days per month. In Europe, CM prevalence ranges from 2.7% to 4.7%. CM is an extremely disabling disorder associated with significant functional impairment. The 2010 Global Burden of Disease Survey conducted by the WHO listed migraine as the 7th cause of disability in the world, responsible for 2.9% of all years of life lost to disability. Unfortunately, however, in its current definition CM includes subgroups of patients with very different levels of severity and outcome. Failing to recognize them entails highly negative repercussions on research and clinical practice, with inadequate patient management and lack of cost-effectiveness. Therefore, it is essential that these subgroups of subjects be clearly identified to optimize clinical management, rationalize the allocation of economic resources, provide specific clinical and health care procedures, and clarify pathogenetic mechanisms. The clinical registry will include the data of all patients with CM, aged 18 or over, seen at the Headache Centres of Parma, Bologna, Rome, and Milan. The diagnosis of CM will be made by a headache specialist based on the diagnostic criteria of the ICHD-III beta (2013) and on the CM classification proposed by Manzoni et al[1]. The principal aim of the clinical registry will be to identify still undefined subgroups of subjects with CM through a specially designed clinical registry to be applied in a large number of outpatients. The registry will make it possible to collect: personal and social patient data, as well as data about their physiological conditions and non-essential habits; clinical features of headache (before and after its evolution to chronicity); any factors concomitant with the headache's evolution to chronicity (i.e., medication overuse, life events, hypertension); comorbidity and injuries; headache-related disability (MIDAS, WHO-DAS-II, MSQ); quality of life (SF36); symptomatic and preventive treatments; medication overuse; visits and hospitalizations for CM; and recognized sickness and invalidity allowances. The creation of a large-scale registry will make it possible to identify specific CM (i.e., refractory CM) subgroups, based on clinical and biological features. It will also make it possible to identify areas with lack of or inadequate health care provision and waste of resources (i.e., useless examinations or treatments), eventually helping to improve CM management and ensure health care procedures that are more appropriate.

Migraine has been associated with an increased risk for stroke, especially in young women.1 Among the pathophysiologic mechanisms linking migraine and stroke, coagulation abnormalities have been regarded as a logical link.2

Tension-type headache (TTH) is the second most common human disease, accounting for intense disability, high costs and numerous workdays lost. Tension-type headache is less simple and easy-to-treat than commonly thought. Antidepressants, despite their poor tolerability, are still the first-choice drugs for preventing TTH. The most widely studied non-pharmacological approach to TTH, cognitive-behavioral techniques, effectively relieve pain only in selected patients. The most frequently used and recommended treatments for acute TTH, NSAIDs and paracetamol have scarce efficacy as documented by their low therapeutic gain over placebo in the 2-h pain-free response. Their effectiveness may be increased by a more proper use and by the adjunction of caffeine, antiemetics, myorelaxants or tranquillizers but the risk of medication-overuse headache must be considered. Hence, the need for more effective and tailored treatments in TTH remains.

Background Headache is one of the most common symptoms after cocaine use. Methods We investigated headache frequency and characteristics and the correlation between headache and acute cocaine intake in a cross-sectional study in a consecutive series of chronic cocaine users. Results Participation rate was 94.1%. Of the 80 subjects enrolled, 72 (90%) reported current headaches, in most cases migraine or probable migraine without aura. Of these 72, 29 (40.3%) had a headache history, whereas 43 (59.7%) reported de novo headache after beginning to use cocaine. After acute cocaine use, a large percentage of users reported headache attacks: 86.2% of previous headache sufferers (migraine or probable migraine without aura in all cases) and 93% of de novo headache sufferers (migraine/probable migraine without aura = 35; episodic tension-type headache = three patients; cocaine-induced headache= two patients). Most subjects reported that when they used cocaine headaches worsened. Conclusion Chronic cocaine use frequently seems to worsen or induce headache with migraine or migraine-like characteristics, probably owing to a serotoninergic and dopaminergic system impairment. In headache sufferers, especially those with migraine headaches, clinicians should enquire into possible cocaine use.