Migraine, 'map' of the genes of the disorder drawn

(ANSA) - ROME, 07 FEB - The "map" of migraine genes was drawn in a maxi study that involved scientists from three continents.

Published in the journal Nature Genetics, it was led by the International Headache GeneticsConsortium and coordinated by the University of Helsinki.

In all, 123 regions of the genome have been associated with migraine.

   Many of the genes discovered are specific to different subtypes of migraine, such as the two most common forms, with or without aura (a visual phenomenon that often precedes attacks).

    Migraine, which affects over a billion people worldwide, is a disorder whose origins are still partly mysterious, but with a known hereditary predisposition.

In fact, previous researches had associated some genes with the disease;

however, to date, no study had matched this work for size.

The experts involved 872,000 individuals of which 102,000 with migraines.

They found that some genetic variants are more common among patients and are found only rarely in the DNA of healthy control subjects.

    "Our study provides the first significant opportunity to evaluate the specific, distinctive genetic components that are shared between the two most well-known subtypes of migraine, with and without aura," explained lead author Heidi Hautakangas.

In addition, the findings represent further evidence to support the neuro-vascular origin of migraine.

Some of the genes discovered are, coincidentally, the molecular target of two drugs recently entered into clinical use for migraine.

    This suggests that there may be new potential drug targets hidden in the genomic regions discovered in this work, and thus paves the way for the development of new therapies.

(HANDLE).