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Calcitonin-gene related peptide and disease activity in cluster headache
Plain-language guide to PMID 30854880 (2019): double-blind randomized controlled trial study of CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) and PACAP.
Key Facts
- PMID
- 30854880
- Journal
- Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache
- Year
- 2019
- Study type
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Snoer A et al. (10 authors)
- DOI
- 10.1177/0333102419837154
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
The paper reports a study of CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) and PACAP, published as a randomized controlled trial.
To investigate the role of calcitonin gene-related peptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide-38 (PACAP38) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in cluster headache, the researchers measured these vasoactive peptides interictally and during experimentally induced cluster headache attacks.
Who Took Part
The age groups tagged for this paper are young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.
The researchers included patients with episodic cluster headache in an active phase (n = 9), episodic cluster headache patients in remission (n = 9) and patients with chronic cluster headache (n = 13).
At baseline, the researchers collected interictal blood samples from all patients and during 11 calcitonin gene-related peptide-induced cluster headache attacks.
How the Study Was Run
The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.
The participants were allocated by chance, so the CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) group and the comparison group should start out alike.
As a double-blind CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.
The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) could be set against what happens without it.
Each person switched between CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.
What Was Measured
Topics PubMed links to this paper include Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide, Cluster Headache, Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide.
The authors tagged it with the keywords CGRP, PACAP38 and VIP.
What This Means in Plain Language
The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) and PACAP.
Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.
The publication is from 2019 (Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache), a journal based in England.
More context: the CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide) compound page and the PACAP compound page, all human trials.
Our Notes on the Compounds
CGRP (Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide): A 37-amino-acid neuropeptide that widens blood vessels and is involved in migraine; given in research provocation studies.
PACAP: Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide, a 38-amino-acid neuropeptide studied in migraine provocation research.
Related Pages
Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.