New genetic risk factors for migraine have been discovered by a team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, and colleagues in Finland.
Professor Aarno Palotie and colleagues say that migraine without aura, that is, recurrent disabling headache without other symptoms such as visual disturbance or pins-and-needles, is the most common form of migraine.
They set out to identify forms of genes linked to this type of migraine, by analysing genetic information on 2,326 German and Dutch people attending migraine clinics and 4,580 similar people without migraine.
The team focused on the most common type of genetic variation – single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. They found six genes linked to migraine, four of which are new discoveries and two of which confirm the findings of previous studies.
Details appeared in the journal Nature Genetics on Sunday (June 10).
The authors write: "This study identifies the first susceptibility loci for migraine without aura, thereby expanding our knowledge of this debilitating neurological disorder." They point out that the new genes identified add to the evidence that dysregulation of molecules important in transmitting signals between brain neurons contribute to migraine.
Co-author Dr Aarno Palotie commented: "The onset of migraines is made up of a cascade of cellular events. Our research provides a new way of understanding these events that underlie migraines. Although the predisposition of migraines is still not fully understood, these studies reveal specific regions of the genome we can now focus on."
Dr Arn van den Maagdenberg, who also worked on the study, added: "Studies of this kind are possible only through large-scale international collaboration – bringing together the wealth of data with the right expertise and resources. The identified genes open new doors to investigate how this type of migraine comes about."
Genome-wide association analysis identifies susceptibility loci for migraine without aura. Freilinger, T. et al. Nature Genetics June10 2012 doi: 10.1038/ng.2307
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