He also tried Levcromakalim, another blood vessel opener that lowers blood pressure. This is a drug that opens potassium channels, which also caused a migraine attack All 16 people who participated in the study were eligible.
For Ashina, these experiments suggest that drugs that block migraine-inducing pathways at or before the point of potassium release may be beneficial. Ashina points out that there are subtypes of potassium channels that may be restricted to blood vessels in the brain, although they can have side effects such as changes in blood pressure. It’s safer to target those specific channels.
“Personally, I really like the potassium channel track,” says Russo. “If we can find drugs that target ion channels or potassium channels, I think that would be beneficial.”
Hope for opioids
Russo is also open to researching new types of opioids. Traditional opioids, whether poppy seeds or drugstores, act on a receptor called mu. In addition to their amazing pain-dulling abilities, produce side effects In addition to constipation and itching, these include euphoria and the risk of addiction.
However, there is another class of opioid receptors. called delta receptorsthey don’t cause euphoria, says Pradhan, who has researched them. When a delta-targeted opioid molecule is administered to an animal, the animal does not self-administer the drug, as is the case with μ-acting opioids such as morphine. This suggests that the drug is less pleasurable and less likely to become habit-forming.
Delta receptors appear in parts of the nervous system associated with migraine, such as the trigeminal ganglion. Dr. Pradhan said that in mice, compounds that act on delta opioid receptors relieves contact sensitivitymarkers of brain activity associated with migraine-like symptoms and migraine aura.
Encouraged by early evidence that these receptors can be safely targeted in humans, the two companies—farm novo Based in Sweden and Pennsylvania Trevena—Pursuing alternative opioid treatments. Migraine headaches are one potential use for such drugs.
So the evolving story of migraine is one of many types of triggers, many types of attacks, many targets, and more treatments likely to emerge over time.
“I don’t think there’s one molecule that fits all,” Levy says. “In 10 or 15 years, we’ll know what triggers it for a particular person and what makes them a target.”
This story was originally Magazines I know.
