Investigation of serum vaspin, visfatin, chemerin and IL-18 levels in migraine patients

Abstract Background: Migraines are headaches caused by changes in the trigeminovascular metabolic pathway. Migraine headache attacks are associated with neurovascular inflammation, but their pathophysiological mechanisms have not been fully explained. Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum vaspin, visfatin, chemerin and interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels and the frequency of attacks in migraine headache. Methods: Three groups were established: migraine with aura (n = 50), migraine without aura (n = 50) and control group (n = 50). The migraine diagnosis was made in accordance with the International Classification of Headache Disorders-III beta diagnostic criteria. The analyses on serum vaspin, visfatin, chemerin and IL-18 levels were performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: The serum vaspin, visfatin, chemerin and IL-18 levels were found to be significantly higher in the migraine patients than in the control group (p < 0.01). No statistically significant differences in serum vaspin, visfatin, chemerin and IL-18 levels were found among the migraine patients during attacks or in the interictal period (p>0.05). The serum visfatin and chemerin levels of the migraine patients were positively correlated with their serum IL-18 levels (p < 0.01), while their serum chemerin and visfatin levels were positively correlated with their serum vaspin levels (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that these biomarkers may be related to migraine pathogenesis. Nonetheless, we believe that more comprehensive studies are needed in order to further understand the role of vaspin, visfatin, chemerin and IL-18 levels in the pathophysiology of migraine headaches.

摘要 背景：偏头痛是由三叉神经血管代谢通路改变引发的头痛，其发作与神经血管炎症密切相关，但目前其病理生理机制尚未完全阐明。
目的：探讨血清内脏脂肪丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂（vaspin）、内脂素（visfatin）、趋化素（chemerin）及白细胞介素-18（IL-18）水平与偏头痛发作频率的关联。
方法：本研究共设立3组：有先兆偏头痛组（n=50）、无先兆偏头痛组（n=50）及健康对照组（n=50）。偏头痛诊断符合《国际头痛疾病分类第3版β版》（International Classification of Headache Disorders-III beta）诊断标准。采用酶联免疫吸附试验（enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay）检测各组受试者的血清vaspin、visfatin、chemerin及IL-18水平。
结果：偏头痛患者的血清vaspin、visfatin、chemerin及IL-18水平均显著高于健康对照组（p<0.01）。偏头痛患者发作期与发作间期的血清vaspin、visfatin、chemerin及IL-18水平均无统计学差异（p>0.05）。偏头痛患者的血清visfatin、chemerin水平与血清IL-18水平呈显著正相关（p<0.01），血清chemerin与visfatin水平与血清vaspin水平呈正相关（p<0.05）。
结论：本研究表明上述生物标志物可能与偏头痛的发病机制相关。然而，我们认为仍需开展更为全面的研究，以进一步明晰vaspin、visfatin、chemerin及IL-18水平在偏头痛病理生理过程中的具体作用。