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Life
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Migraine and Headache: From Pathophysiological Aspects
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Migraine and Headache: From Pathophysiological Aspects

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1424

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jacob Genizi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Pediatric Department, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel
Interests: clinical neurology; migraine; headache; neurological diseases; primary headache disorders
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Headaches are common in children and adolescents. Indeed, they are the most common complaint among children and adolescents seeking medical advice, with their prevalence increasing with age. Migraine and tension-type headaches (TTHs) are by far the most frequently occurring types of headache in this age group.

Approximately 25% of children who experience migraines report experiencing aura before the onset of the headache. Visual aura is the most common type of aura, followed by sensory disturbances. Less frequently, children experience speech disturbances. Most aura symptoms usually last one hour, but the duration of motor symptoms may be extended. Patients, especially young children, often find it hard to describe their symptoms.

The strategies used to treat migraines vary according to the patient’s age, family structure, culture and beliefs, and burden the headache imposes on the patient’s life. One multidisciplinary treatment approach was found to be an effective strategy for children and adolescents; however, drugs such as Topiramate, Amitriptyline and Propranolol, which have traditionally been employed for the prevention of migraines, did not lead to a statistically significant improvement in the RCT. New drugs, such as anti-GCRP, are still not registered for children.

This Special Issue will focus on recent research on the pathophysiological aspects of headache and migraine.

Dr. Jacob Genizi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • migraine
  • headache
  • pathophysiology
  • treatment
  • medication

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
Executive Functions, Anxiety, Social Participation and Quality of Life in Children with Migraine During COVID-19
by Jacob Genizi, Hila Samet, Hussein Zaitoon, Uriel Elimelech, Nogah C. Kerem, Aharon Kessel, Adel Shalata, Keren Nathan and Batya Engel-Yeger
Life 2025, 15(4), 528; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15040528 - 23 Mar 2025
Viewed by 324
Abstract
Objective: We aimed to compare executive functions (EF), anxiety, social participation, and quality of life (QoL) between children with migraine and healthy controls during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to examine these parameters in children in each group who did vs. did not contract [...] Read more.
Objective: We aimed to compare executive functions (EF), anxiety, social participation, and quality of life (QoL) between children with migraine and healthy controls during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to examine these parameters in children in each group who did vs. did not contract COVID-19. Materials and Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out. The patient group comprised children seen in our pediatric neurology clinic for migraine, and the control group was composed of aged-matched healthy children with no neurological findings or developmental disorders. The participants’ parents completed a health and demographic questionnaire, the BRIEF (child/adolescent version), the PedsQL, the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), and the CASP. The participants or their parents furnished information on whether the participant had contracted COVID-19. Results: A total of 84 children and adolescents aged 6–17.5 (mean of 12.8) participated in the study, including 33 with migraine (17 boys, 16 girls) and 51 healthy controls (28 boys, 23 girls). The children with migraine showed significantly lower EF due to reduced behavioral regulation, higher trait anxiety, and lower physical, emotional, and school-related QoL. Reduced EF correlated with the intensity of migraine attacks, higher anxiety, reduced social participation, and reduced QoL. Lower social participation correlated with reduced QoL and predicted emotional and social QoL. The BRIEF metacognition scale predicted school-related QoL. Healthy children who contracted COVID-19 showed significantly lower EF than children with migraine in the inhibition (56.66 ± 10.56 vs. 45.71 ± 7.12, p = 0.013) and initiation (60.01 ± 11.89 vs. 46.01 ± 6.54, p = 0.005) BRIEF scales, and in the general metacognition index (65.83 ± 14.48 vs. 46.75 ± 9.19, p = 0.003). Healthy children who contracted COVID-19 had significantly worse initiation and working memory compared to those who did not contract COVID-19 (initiation: 60.01 ± 11.89 vs. 46.81 ± 8.89, p = 0.007), working memory: 61.16 ± 15.48 vs. 47.21 ± 11.06, p = 0.021). Conclusion: Migraine has a significant negative impact on executive functions in children and adolescents, greater than contracting COVID-19. Executive dysfunction influences patients’ emotional state, participation in social activities, and quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic had a less deleterious effect on migraine patients compared to the healthy control group. Further research on pediatric migraine is warranted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migraine and Headache: From Pathophysiological Aspects)
12 pages, 1046 KiB  
Article
CamKIIα and VPAC1 Expressions in the Caudal Trigeminal Nucleus of Rats After Systemic Nitroglycerin Treatment: Interaction with Anandamide
by Gábor Nagy-Grócz, Eleonóra Spekker, Tamás Körtési, Klaudia Flóra Laborc, Zsuzsanna Bohár, Annamária Fejes-Szabó, László Vécsei and Árpád Párdutz
Life 2025, 15(2), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15020155 - 22 Jan 2025
Viewed by 891
Abstract
Migraines are a frequently occurring neurological condition that affects up to 16% of the global population. The precise pathomechanism of the disease remains unknown, but from animal and human observations, it appears that calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (CamKIIα), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide [...] Read more.
Migraines are a frequently occurring neurological condition that affects up to 16% of the global population. The precise pathomechanism of the disease remains unknown, but from animal and human observations, it appears that calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (CamKIIα), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) are involved in its pathogenesis. One of the animal models of migraines uses the systemic administration of nitroglycerin (NTG), which, as a nitric oxide (NO) donor, initiates a self-amplifying process in the trigeminal system, leading to central sensitization. Endocannabinoids, such as anandamide (AEA), are thought to play a modulatory role in trigeminal activation and sensitization phenomena. In the present experiment, we aimed to investigate the effect of NTG and AEA on CamKIIα, PACAP/VIP, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide type 1 receptor (VPAC1) expression levels in the upper cervical spinal cord (C1-C2) of rats, where trigeminal nociceptive afferents are clustered. Four groups of animals were formed: in the first group, the rats received only the vehicle; in the second group, they were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of NTG (10 mg/kg); animals in the third and fourth groups received AEA (2 × 5 mg/kg) half an hour before and one hour after the placebo or treatment with NTG. Four hours after the placebo/NTG injection, the animals were transcardially perfused, and the cervical spinal cords were removed for Western blot. Our results show that both NTG and AEA alone can increase the expression of CamKIIα and VPAC1 in the C1-C2 segments. Interestingly, the combination of NTG and AEA had no such effect on these markers, possibly due to various negative feedback mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Migraine and Headache: From Pathophysiological Aspects)
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