Scientists Discover Migraine Gene
MILAN (Reuters) - Two Italian scientists
have discovered a gene linked to severe migraines, a finding they
say could pave the way to banishing not only migraines but everyday
headaches as well.
Geneticist Giorgio Casari and neuroscientist
Roberto Marconi of Milan's San Raffaele Institute spent four years
screening the genetic makeup of six generations of a migraine-prone
family and found they all had a gene in common.
"We have discovered a new gene
related to migraines and this opens a pathway ... to new therapeutic
approaches," Casari told Reuters from his Milan office Tuesday.
The research is set to be published
online by journal Nature Genetics later Tuesday.
Found in chromosome 1--one of the
most well-documented chromosomes of the human body--the ATP1A2
gene causes a malfunction of the pump that shifts sodium and potassium
through the cell, the scientists said.
Rather than healthy, polygon-shaped
cells, the mutant cells were rounded and swollen, leading to the
pain, flashing lights and sensation of tingling hair that debilitates
severe "aura" migraine sufferers.
"The chromosome is so well researched,
it will not be difficult or take long to find a therapy for it,"
Current pills for headaches tend
to numb the pain but not mend the cause, and targeting the faulty
pump action could head off the pain at its source, helping not
only sufferers of hard-hitting migraines but those who get common
"A milder form of the mutation
could be responsible for a milder headache," Marconi said.
Hundreds of trial patients are
lined up to participate in the next round of research, which will
look into whether the gene is also responsible for milder headaches,
the scientists said.
Casari and Marconi are ready to
work with drug developers to find a treatment to fix the faulty
pump action. They say the right drug could already be available
but existing treatments need to be tested for suitability.
The pair are the latest Italian
scientists to carry out breakthrough research on a shoe-string
budget, overcoming reams of red tape--a predicament that has caused
many of Italy's best scientific minds to flee the country.
Casari said the research cost around
$100,000, a trickle compared with the rivers of funds available
to US and British scientists.
Reference Source 89