Autotaxin Levels Are Elevated in Patients With Migraine

TOPLINE:

Serum levels of autotaxin (ATX) were significantly higher in patients with episodic migraine (EM) and chronic migraine (CM) than in control individuals. ATX levels correlated with pain intensity, attack frequency, and disease evolution time in patients with CM, according to a new study.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study involving 145 participants: 62 healthy control individuals (mean age, 41.2 years) matched with 45 patients with EM (mean age, 42.3 years) and 38 patients with CM (mean age, 45.1 years).
• Researchers measured clinical outcomes, including migraine intensity using visual analog scale (VAS) scores, headache frequency (days/month), evolution time (months), and attack duration.
• The analysis included the measurement of serum biomarkers indicative of inflammation (interleukin 6 [IL-6] and interleukin 10 [IL-10]), trigeminovascular system activation (calcitonin gene–related peptide [CGRP]), and endothelial dysfunction (pentraxin 3 [PTX3], cellular fibrinogen [cFN], and soluble tumor necrosis factor–like weak inducer of apoptosis [sTWEAK]), along with ATX levels.

TAKEAWAY:

• Serum ATX levels were significantly higher in patients with EM (mean, 310.7 ng/mL) and CM (mean, 336.7 ng/mL) than in control individuals (mean, 212.3 ng/mL) (P < .001).
• ATX levels distinguished control individuals from patients with EM and CM with high diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve [AUC], 0.84 and 0.98, respectively; P < .001 for both).
• In patients with CM, ATX levels were strongly correlated with VAS scores (Spearman’s correlation coefficient, 0.405; P < .05), migraine frequency (Spearman's correlation coefficient, 0.718; P < .001), and evolution time (Spearman's correlation coefficient, 0.226; P = .003).
• Together, in the CM and EM groups, ATX levels were significantly correlated with CGRP levels (Pearson’s correlation coefficient, 0.278; P < .001), PTX3 levels (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.468; P < .001), sTWEAK levels (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.242; P < .001), cFN levels (Pearson's coefficient, 0.425; P < .001), and IL-6 serum levels (Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.159; P < .001).

IN PRACTICE:

“This study supports serum ATX levels as a good diagnostic biomarker for migraine and describes the correlation of ATX levels with the time of evolution of the disease, intensity of headaches, and frequency of headaches, but only in patients with CM,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Alberto Ouro, PhD, Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was published online on March 4 in Headache.

LIMITATIONS:

The study did not include a formal calculation of the sample size. Additionally, some patients and control individuals may have had undiagnosed conditions associated with increased systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, which could have influenced the study’s findings.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was partly supported by Xunta de Galicia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBERNED, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, INTERREG Atlantic Area, INTER-REG V A España Portugal, and the European Regional Development Fund. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.