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Reduced regulatory T lymphocytes in migraine patients

Faraji F, Shojapour M, Farahani I, Ganji A, Mosayebi G

Neurological research, 2021

33 participants · 34 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives: Migraine is a primary headache disorder with unknown pathophysiology. Recently, many studies have suggested the role of immune dysfunction in the pathophysiology of this disorder. In this study, we investigated the percentage of regulatory T cells (Treg cells) in different migraine categories. Methods: Peripheral blood samples of 40 newly diagnosed cases of migraine and 33 healthy individuals were collected for Treg cell analysis by flow cytometry. Results: The percentage of Treg cells in migraine patients with all subgroups including patients with or without auras and patients with chronic or episodic migraine was significantly lower than that of the control group. Also, a significant increase in the CD25 means fluorescence intensity (MFI) was observed in migraine without aura and chronic migraine groups, compared to the normal group. Conclusions: In this study, the number of Treg cells significantly decreased in new cases of migraine, which suggests that migraine is a result of an impairment in the immunological system or an autoimmune disease. Also, the insignificant difference in the number of Treg cells between the two categories of migraine suggests that there is no link between the reduced number of Treg cells and the emergence of aura symptoms or duration of the disease.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 33 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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