Synergism of Anti-CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies and OnabotulinumtoxinA in the Treatment of Chronic Migraine: A Real-World Retrospective Chart Review.

BACKGROUND: Many patients with chronic migraine do not achieve clinically meaningful improvement in their headache frequency with monotherapy. The burden associated with chronic migraine calls for a multifaceted treatment approach targeting multiple aspects of migraine pathophysiology. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of concurrent anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibody (mAb) and onabotulinumtoxinA (onabot) treatment on median monthly migraine days (MMD) in patients with chronic migraine, through a retrospective study. METHODS: The electronic medical records of Cleveland Clinic patients either concurrently (dual therapy) or consecutively (monotherapy) treated with anti-CGRP mAbs and onabot between June 2018 and November 2021 were extracted. Only adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) were included in this study. MMDs for 194 concurrently treated (86.6% female and a median [interquartile range] age of 51 [41-61] years) and 229 consecutively treated (88.2% female and median age of 47 [IQR 39-57] years) patients were examined at baseline, after first therapy of either anti-CGRP mAb or onabot, and following dual therapy for 3 consecutive months. The reduction of MMDs for each treatment group were compared. The same approach was utilized to compare consecutive monotherapy at separate times (n = 229) and dual-therapy groups. RESULTS: The initial treatment of the dual-therapy group reduced the median (IQR) MMDs from 30 (30-30) to 15 (12-30) [p < 0.0001]. After initiation of dual therapy, the median MMDs was further decreased from 15 (12-30) to 8 (3-22) [p < 0.0001]. A majority [132/194 (68.0%)] of the dual-therapy patients reported a ≥ 50% reduction in MMD and 90/194 (46.4%) reported a ≥ 75% reduction. For the consecutive monotherapy group, median MMDs changed from a baseline of 30 (25-30) to 15 (8-25) from onabot monotherapy and decreased from 25 (15-30) to 12 (4-25) after anti-CGRP mAb monotherapy. Almost half (113/229 [49.3%] from onabot, and 104/229 [45.4%] from anti-CGRP mAb) of these patients achieved a ≥ 50% reduction in MMDs and a minority (38/229 [16.6%] from onabot, and 45/229 [19.7%] from anti-CGRP mAb) achieved a reduction of ≥ 75%. Additionally, dual therapy showed significant improvement in MMDs compared with monotherapy of either treatment (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Dual therapy of anti-CGRP mAbs and onabot may be more efficacious than monotherapy, possibly due to their synergistic mechanisms of action.

Association of women-specific health factors in the severity of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related neurological disorder known for the observational differences in its risk, progression, and severity between men and women. While estrogen has been considered to be a protective factor in the development of PD, there is little known about the role that fluctuations in hormones and immune responses from sex-specific health experiences have in the disease's development and severity. We sought to identify women-specific health experiences associated with PD severity, after adjusting for known PD factors, by developing and distributing a women-specific questionnaire across the United States and creating multivariable models for PD severity. We created a questionnaire that addresses women's specific experiences and their PD clinical history and deployed it through The Parkinson's Foundation: PD Generation. To determine the association between women-specific health factors and PD severity, we constructed multivariable logistic regression models based on the MDS-UPDRS scale and the participants' questionnaire responses, genetics, and clinical data. For our initial launch in November 2021, we had 304 complete responses from PD GENEration. Univariate and multivariate logistic modeling found significant associations between major depressive disorder, perinatal depression, natural childbirth, LRRK2 genotype, B12 deficiency, total hysterectomy, and increased PD severity. This study is a nationally available questionnaire for women's health and PD. It shifts the paradigm in understanding PD etiology and acknowledging how sex-specific experiences may contribute to PD severity. In addition, the work in this study sets the foundation for future research to investigate the factors behind sex differences in PD.

Efficacy and Tolerability of Anti-CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies in Patients Aged ≥ 65 Years With Daily or Nondaily Migraine.

Background and Objectives: Despite decreasing prevalence of migraine with advancing age, there remains a significant proportion of individuals aged ≥65 years with migraine. Treatment of this population is difficult and they are often excluded from clinical trials, limiting evidence regarding migraine treatment outcomes. Our objective is to assess the efficacy and tolerability of anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies (erenumab, fremanezumab, and galcanezumab) in patients ≥65 years (O65) compared with patients <65 (U65) with daily or nondaily migraine. Methods: This observational study uses retrospective data from the electronic medical records of patients who were treated with an anti-CGRP mAb between June 2018 and November 2021. Efficacy was determined through a reduction in monthly migraine days (MMDs) and Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) scores from baseline to posttreatment. Tolerability was examined through the number of adverse events reported per group. Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the efficacy and tolerability of U65 and O65 patients overall and separated into daily and nondaily migraine groups. Results: The dataset consisted of U65 (n = 2,707; median [interquartile range]; 45.4 [35.8-53.8] years) or O65 (n = 304; 69.5 [67.3-73.3] years) and further separated into daily (n = 1,303) and nondaily (n = 1,708) migraine. There was no difference (p = 0.57) in the median MMD reduction between U65 (10 days [0.0-17.0]) and O65 (10 days [0.0-16.5]). Similarly, no difference was found among patients with nondaily migraine (p = 0.82) and patients with daily migraine (p = 0.59). HIT-6 scores decreased from severe to moderate/substantial impact for all groups. The daily and nondaily groups showed differences in meeting the 50% improvement threshold (nondaily U65, 67% vs daily U65, 54%, p < 0.0001; nondaily O65, 65% vs daily O65, 49%, p = 0.008). Side effects were reported (829/3,011), with a higher incidence in the U65 (22% O65, 28% U65). The most common side effects for both groups were injection site reaction/rash (40%) and constipation (25%). Discussion: This retrospective analysis provides real-world evidence that there is no difference in the efficacy and tolerability of treatment with erenumab, fremanezumab, and galcanezumab in patients O65 when compared with patients U65 both with daily or nondaily migraine. These data may help guide the choice of migraine treatment in older populations.