The following is a summary of “A causal effects of gut microbiota in the development of migraine,” published in the July 2023 issue of Pain by He et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating the link between gut microbiota and migraine, including its subtypes.
They gathered single nucleotide polymorphisms related to the gut microbiome from the gene-wide association study (GWAS) conducted by the MiBioGen consortium. Data for migraine, migraine with aura (MA), and migraine without aura (MO) were obtained from a GWAS meta-analysis by the International Headache Genetics Consortium (IHGC) and FinnGen. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was utilized as the primary method, supported by sensitivity analyses to address pleiotropy and enhance robustness.
The results showed significant links between ten, five, and nine bacterial taxa and migraine, MA, and MO in IHGC datasets (IVW, all P<0.05). In FinnGen datasets, Genus Coprococcus 3 and genus anaerotruncus were confirmed. Additionally, nine, twelve, and seven bacterial entities were associated with migraine, MA, and MO, respectively. Notably, the causal relationship remained for the family. Bifidobacteriaceae and order.Bifidobacteriales with migraine and MO post-FDR correction. Heterogeneity and pleiotropy analyses affirmed the reliability of IVW outcomes.
Investigators concluded that gut microbiota, including its subtypes, may cause migraines by disrupting the gut-brain axis.
Source: thejournalofheadacheandpain.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s10194-023-01609-x
