Cytokine polymorphism in patients with migraine: Some suggestive clues of migraine and inflammation

Abstract

Objective: There are contrasting results obtained in migraineurs concerning the levels and the role of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. In this study, the association of the occurrence and clinical characteristics of migraine with the polymorphisms of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) -308 G/A (rs1800629), interleukin-1α (IL-1α) +4845 G/T (rs17561), IL-1β +3953 C/T (rs1143634) and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist variable number tandem repeat (IL-1RA VNTR) genes were studied. We also investigated the genetic linkage between these genes. Design, Setting, Patients: Sixty-seven patients with migraine without aura (MwoA) and 96 unrelated, age- and sex-matched migraine-free, healthy control subjects from the same geographic area were investigated. Results: We observed significant differences in the genotypic distribution of the TNF-α -308 G/A and IL-1β +3953 C/T polymorphism for migraineurs compared with controls (P = 0.004). Frequency of the TNF-α -308 GG genotype was higher in the control group than MwoA group (82.1% vs 55.2%). Differences in the distribution of the allele frequencies were also observed, being the TNF-α -308 G allele overrepresented in control group and TNF-α -308 A allele in MwoA group. In addition, there was a significant increase of the IL-1β +3953 T allele in MwoA cases compared with controls (P = 0.004). Conclusions: In conclusion, the present results indicate the possible contribution of TNF-α and IL-1β gene polymorphisms to migraine headache generation in MwoA patients. © 2010 American Academy of Pain Medicine.