ABSTRACT
Serotonin is involved in several central nervous system functions including pain threshold, mood regulation and drug reward. Overuse of acute medications is commonly identified as a causative factor for medication overuse headache (MOH). Apparently, MOH shares with other kinds of drug addiction some common neurobiological pathways. The objective of this study is to assess the role of serotonin metabolism genes in the genetic liability to MOH. We performed a genetic association study using polymorphisms of five serotonin metabolism-related genes: serotonin transporter (5HTT), serotonin receptor 1A(5-HT1A), serotonin receptor 1B (5-HT1B), serotonin receptor 2A (5-HT2A) and serotonin receptor 6 (5HT6)genes. We compared 138 patients with MOH with a control sample of 117 individuals without headache and without drug overuse, and with 101 patients with migraine without aura but without drug overuse (MO). The genotypic and allelic distributions of all polymorphisms investigated didnot differ among the three groups. In conclusion, our studydoes not provide evidence that the 5HTT, 5-HT1A, 5HT1B,5HT2A and 5HT6 gene polymorphisms play a role in the genetic predisposition to MOH.
Subject(s)
Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics , Headache Disorders, Secondary/genetics , Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics , Serotonin/genetics , Serotonin/metabolism , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Gene Frequency , Genetic Association Studies , Genotype , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Minisatellite Repeats/genetics , Receptors, Serotonin/genetics , Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/genetics , Young AdultABSTRACT
A 66-year-old man suffered from a drug-resistant, left-sided headache with autonomic signs, triggered by the supine position. The acromegalic facies initially suggested a possible increase in basal plasma levels of GH, but routine haematological controls excluded abnormal values of GH. Cerebral and facial CT scan and MRI did not detect any alterations in the nasal sinuses, except for a mucous cyst. Surgical ablation of the cyst did not alleviate the pain. Further endocrinological the pain. Further endocrinological tests demonstrated an increase of IGF-1 (somatomedin C), and another MRI scan of the sellar region confirmed the presence of a pituitary macroadenoma on the left paramedian side. After an initial improvement of the symptomatology due to trans-sphenoidal ablation of a benign GH-producing macroadenoma, the headache worsened again. Pain was well correlated with the increased plasma levels of IGF-1. The patient died suddenly for myocardial infarct.