Low plasma levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide in persistent post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in persistent post-traumatic headache (PTH) attributed to mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
A total of 100 individuals with persistent PTH attributed to mild TBI and 100 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were enrolled between July 2018 and June 2019. Blood was drawn from the antecubital vein and subsequently analyzed using a validated radioimmunoassay for human CGRP. Measurements were performed on coded samples by a board-certified laboratory technician who was blind to clinical information.


RESULTS
CGRP plasma levels were lower in subjects with persistent PTH (mean, 75.8 pmol/L; SD, 26.4 pmol/L), compared with age- and gender-matched healthy controls (mean, 88.0 pmol/L; SD, 34.1 pmol/L) (p = 0.04). No correlation was found of CGRP plasma levels with monthly headache days (r = -0.11; p = 0.27), monthly migraine-like days (r = 0.15; p = 0.13), headache quality (r = -0.14; p = 0.15), or a chronic migraine-like headache phenotype (r = -0.02; p = 0.85).


CONCLUSIONS
CGRP plasma measurements are unlikely a feasible blood-based biomarker of persistent PTH. Future studies should assess whether CGRP plasma measurements can be used to predict development of persistent PTH.
['Ashina|Håkan|H|', 'Al-Khazali|Haidar Muhsen|HM|', 'Iljazi|Afrim|A|', 'Ashina|Sait|S|', 'Jørgensen|Niklas Rye|NR|', 'Amin|Faisal Mohammad|FM|', 'Ashina|Messoud|M|', 'Schytz|Henrik Winther|HW|']
D000328:Adult D015415:Biomarkers D001924:Brain Concussion D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D051298:Post-Traumatic Headache
Biomarkers concussion head trauma pathophysiology