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Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background/aim: Chronic migraine (CM) is a disabling neurological disorder associated with substantial impairment of quality of life. Increasing evidence suggests that inflammatory and epigenetic mechanisms may contribute to migraine pathophysiology. miR- 146, a microRNA involved in the TLR-4/NFkb pathway, is known to regulate proinflammatory signaling, whereas HMGB1 activates inflammatory pathways through TLR2 and TLR4 receptors. IL-17 is another proinflammatory cytokine implicated in both inflammation and cognitive processes. In this research, our aim was to investigate the relationship between serum HMGB1, IL-17, and miR-146 levels and migraine-related subjective cognitive symptoms in patients with CM.

Materials and methods: Serum samples were collected from 20 CM patients and 15 age-matched healthy controls. All the participants were female. Medical history, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and migraine attacks - subjective cognitive impairments scale (Mig-SCog) scores were recorded. Serum HMGB1 and IL-17 levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to measure serum miR-146 levels. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted with SPSS 25.0. The relationships between Mig-SCog scores and serum HMGB1, IL-17, and miR-146 levels were investigated.

Results: Serum HMGB1 levels were significantly elevated in the CM group compared to the control group (p = 0.012). However, no significant differences were observed between the two groups for serum IL-17 (p = 0.737) or miR-146 levels (p = 0.560). There was no significant correlation between HMGB1 and IL-17 (r = 0.167) or HMGB1 and miR146 levels (r = 0.073). Mig-SCog scores (p = 0.001) differed significantly between the groups and were positively correlated with HMGB1 levels (r = 0.403).

Conclusion: Serum HMGB1 levels were elevated in CM patients and were associated with migraine-related subjective cognitive complaints, whereas no significant association was observed with miR-146 or IL-17 levels. These findings support a potential role of HMGB1 in migraine-related neuroinflammatory processes. Further studies are needed to clarify the relationship between inflammatory pathways and cognitive symptoms in migraine.

Author ORCID Identifier

HALE DAĞIDIR: 0000-0003-3997-4307

DUYGU BANDIRMALI: 0000-0002-2724-4078

MERVE AKGÖR: 0000-0002-5169-2233

DOĞA VURALLI: 0000-0002-7964-2676

MELTEM YALINAY: 0000-0002-9815-8230

GÜVEM AKAY: 0000-0002-6564-3133

HAYRUNNİSA BOLAY: 0000-0002-3357-7733

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.6378

Keywords

Chronic migraine, HMGB1, IL-17, inflammation, Mig-SCog, miR-146

First Page

1343

Last Page

1351

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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