Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) levels during glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)-induced headache in healthy volunteers

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide), published as a randomized controlled trial.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 10 volunteers taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

The volunteers were allocated by chance, so the CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the volunteers nor the staff measuring them knew who was on CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the volunteers took both CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

CGRP, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and somatostatin plasma levels were measured before and after placebo/sumatriptan injection and during GTN-induced headache.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide, Headache, Neuropeptide Y, Nitric Oxide, Nitric Oxide Donors, Nitroglycerin and Somatostatin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) in 10 volunteers.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2010 (Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache), a journal based in England.

More context: the CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) compound page, all human trials.