Intravenous Endothelin-1 Infusion Does Not Induce Aura or Headache in Migraine Patients With Aura

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Endothelin-1 in the context of migraine in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To investigate whether intravenously infused provokes migraine aura and migraine headache in migraine patients with aura.

Why It Was Studied

The initiating mechanism of migraine aura symptoms is not known.

Experimental provocation of migraine headache using vasoactive peptides has provided tremendous advances in the understanding of migraine pathophysiology but substances that can induce migraine aura have not been identified.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers, young adults and adults, both men and women.

The researchers investigated whether intravascular ET-1 would provoke migraine aura in patients.

Experiments were carried out at a public tertiary headache center (Danish Headache Center, Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Denmark).

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Because people in this Endothelin-1 study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Endothelin-1 study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Endothelin-1, giving a reference point.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both Endothelin-1 and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

The primary end-point was the difference in incidence of migraine aura between ET-1 and placebo.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Endothelin-1, Migraine Disorders and Migraine with Aura.

Author keywords: endothelium, human, provocation, trigger and vascular.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Endothelin-1 in people with migraine.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2020 (Headache), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Endothelin-1 compound page, Migraine research.