Adiponectin and migraine: systematic review of clinical evidence

Although the pathogenesis of migraine is very complex and has not been thoughtfully elucidated, general consensus exists to date that this condition should be considered a primary neurovascular disorder with an important inflammatory component. Owing to epidemiological evidence of increased risk of migraine in overweight and obese subjects and to the inverse relationship that exists between serum adiponectin concentration and obesity, we performed an electronic search on Medline, Scopus and Web of Science, using the keywords "migraine" and "adiponectin" with no language or date restriction to explore the existence of an association between serum adiponectin and migraine. According to our search criteria, five studies were finally included in this systematic review, four cross-sectional (totaling 300 patients with migraine and 177 controls) and one interventional. Collectively, the results of our analysis suggest that a link between serum adiponectin and migraine remains elusive, at the best. The four cross-sectional studies failed to find any significant association, whereas the outcome of the single interventional study reported a rather modest variation of serum adiponectin concentration in a very limited sample size. Further larger studies are needed to firmly establish the existence of a relationship between adiponectin metabolism and migraine.