Conclusions and future perspectives

Abstract

It is an exciting time for the study of CGRP and related peptides. In the next few years we may see CGRP antagonist(s) approved for the treatment of migraine. These antagonists offer hope for a highly effective and safe new therapy for the treatment of this disabling disorder. We will also learn more about how effective targeting amylin receptors for the treatment of diabetes will be long-term and it will be interesting to determine the efficacy of combination therapy of amylin plus leptin for the treatment of human obesity. Further research will determine the clinical potential of adrenomedullin and AM2/intermedin. Further research using genetic models of RAMPs, CL, RCP, CTR and the peptides themselves will reveal the physiological and pathophysiological roles of these systems, helping us to identify relevant targets for treatment of a variety of conditions and diseases. Future studies are likely to involve sophisticated conditional and tissue specific gene knock out strategies to achieve these goals and answer key questions such as the function of individual amylin receptor subtypes and β-CGRP, for example. The phenotype of a dual α/β-CGRP would be particularly interesting. It is likely that emphasis will be placed on AM2/intermedin as the most recent addition to this peptide family.