Μ‐Opioid activation in the prefrontal cortex in migraine attacks – brief report I. (1st June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: DaSilva, Alexandre F.; Nascimento, Thiago D.; DosSantos, Marcos F.; Lucas, Sarah; van Holsbeeck, Hendrik; DeBoer, Misty; Maslowski, Eric; Love, Tiffany; Martikainen, Ilkka K.; Koeppe, Robert A.; Smith, Yolanda R.; Zubieta, Jon‐Kar
• Is Part Of: Annals of clinical and translational neurology. Volume 1:Number 6(2014)
• Page Start: 439
• Page End: 444
• Publication Date: 2014-06-01
• Subjects: Nervous system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; 616.8005
• DOI: 10.1002/acn3.65
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2328-9503

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="acn365-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>We evaluated in vivo the <italic>μ</italic>‐opioid system during spontaneous episodic migraine headaches. Seven patients were scanned at different phases of their migraine using positron emission tomography with the selective <italic>μ</italic>‐opioid receptor (<italic>μ</italic>OR) radiotracer [11C]carfentanil. In the ictal phase, there was <italic>μ</italic>OR activation in the medial prefrontal cortex, which was strongly associated with the <italic>μ</italic>OR availability level during the interictal phase. Furthermore, <italic>μ</italic>‐opioid binding changes showed moderate negative correlation with the combined extension and severity of the attacks. These results indicate for the first time that there is high <italic>μ</italic>OR activation in the migraineurs' brains during headache attacks in response to their pain.</p> </abstract>