MRI Migraine Specialist Treatment Centers
One of the latest migraine breakthroughs is the involvement in migraine of a substance called CGRP (Calcitonin gene-related peptide). In this study, researchers experimented on sections of the temporal artery which can be seen in the diagram below as is known as one the most commonly involved migraine arteries.
CGRP is a natural substance released by the trigeminal nerve and has been found to be elevated in the blood flow of migraine suffers. The migraine arteries are surrounded by nerve fibers that contain CGRP and this substance is intrinsically involved in how the migraine arteries behave and react in migraine sufferers. CGRP acts very powerfully on the migraine arteries.
CGRP is found in the dense nerve fibers that surround the migraine arteries. These nerves permeate the walls of the arteries and reach down into the smooth muscle that lines the inside of the migraine arteries. CGRP is the substance that is at the centre of the relationship the nerves and the arteries involved in migraine.
That CGRP, a naturally occurring substance has the same effects on the migraine arteries as many of the powerful migraine drugs like sumatriptan, and ergotamine, is further evidence and incontrovertible proof of the involvement of the migraine arteries in the pain of so many sufferers.
View the original CGRP study at this link: BIBN4096BS is a potent competitive antagonist of the relaxant effects of a-CGRP on human temporal artery: comparison with CGRP(8-37)
Interesting references on the migraine arteries studies:
Vasoactive peptide release in the extracerebral circulation of humans during migraine headache
