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Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Investigating Migraine-Like Behavior Using Light Aversion in Mice
Published on: August 11, 2021
Targeting CGRP for migraine treatment: mechanisms, antibodies, small molecules, perspectives
Eleonora De Matteis1,2, Martina Guglielmetti3,4, Raffaele Ornello1,2
1Neuroscience Section, Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology, University of L'Aquila , L'Aquila, Italy.
Introduction:
Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) has gradually emerged as a suitable therapeutic target to treat migraine. Considering the social and economic burden of migraine, it is fundamental to optimize the disease management with efficacious and safe treatments. In this scenario, drugs targeting GCRP, monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) and gepants, represent new therapeutic strategies.
Areas Covered:
In the present work, the authors aim at appraising the main insights and implications of treatments targeting CGRP by reviewing pathophysiology and clinical information.
Expert Opinion:
Anti-CGRP MoAbs are the first migraine-specific preventive treatments representing a suitable option especially for difficult-to-treat patients. They can be safely administered for long periods even in association with preventatives acting on different targets. Gepants are a safe alternative to triptans for the acute management of migraine and are currently being tested for prevention, thus representing the first transitional molecules for disease therapy. In the future, it might be possible to adapt the treatment according to patients' characteristics and disease phenotype even combining the two treatments targeting the CGRP pathway.
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