Migraine is a very common disease that seriously affects the quality of life of those who suffer from it and about which there is not much information, so its treatment is very difficult. Now, researchers from the Valle de Hebron Research Institute and the University of Barcelona (UB) have identified four genes that cause migraine without aurea, the subtype of the most common condition in the population.
The work, published in the journal Nature Genetics , has analyzed the genomes of 12,000 people , 5,000 of them affected by the disease. The results, in addition to confirming the association of migraine with two genes that were already known, reveal four new genes involved (MEF2D, TGFBR2, PHACTR1 and ASTN2).
“The results do not yet have immediate application in daily clinical practice because the contribution of each individual variant to the risk of developing migraine is relatively small,” explained Bru Cormand, one of the authors. “However, the study has made it possible to identify different genes that point to certain functional pathways, and which will become therapeutic targets in future studies.” Currently, migraine affects one in six women and one in twelve men , so studies aimed at a deeper understanding of its causes and possible treatments offer hope for all people who suffer from this uncomfortable ailment.
