@article{10902/30071,
year = {2023},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/30071},
abstract = {Background Headache is among the most frequent symptoms of acute COVID-19 infection. Its mechanisms remain obscure, but due to its migraine-like characteristics, the activation of the trigeminal system could account for its underlying pathophysiology.
Methods Our aim was to compare the serum levels of CGRP, as a theoretical marker of trigemino-vascular activation, in 25 COVID-19 inpatients with lung involvement experiencing headache, against 15 COVID-19 inpatients without headache and with those of 25 matched healthy controls with no headache history.
Results Morning serum alpha-CGRP levels, as measured by ELISA (Abbexa, UK), were increased in COVID-19 patients with headache (55.2±34.3 pg/mL) vs. controls (33.9±14.0 pg/mL) (p<0.01). Alpha-CGRP levels in COVID-19 patients without headache were also significantly increased (43.3±12.8 pg/mL; p=0.05) versus healthy controls, but were numerically lower (-28.2%; p=0.36) as compared to COVID-19 patients with headache.
Conclusion CGRP levels are increased in COVID-19 patients experiencing headache in the acute phase of this disease, which could explain why headache frequently occurs in COVID-19 and strongly supports a role for trigeminal activation in the pathophysiology of headache in this viral infection.},
organization = {Funding: This work was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI20/01358) and IDIVAL (INNVAL 20/25 and 21/31)
Acknowledgements: We thank the nurses of our hospital who collaborated in obtaining the blood samples},
publisher = {BioMed Central},
publisher = {BMC Neurology, 2023, 23, 109},
title = {Serum alpha-CGRP levels are increased in COVID-19 patients with headache indicating an activation of the trigeminal system},
author = {Gárate Viñas, Gabriel and Toriello, María and González Quintanilla, Vicente and Pérez Pereda, Sara and Madera, Jorge and Pascual, Marta and Olmos Martínez, José Manuel and Pascual Gómez, Julio},
}