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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Modeling Neural Immune Signaling of Episodic and Chronic Migraine Using Spreading Depression In Vitro
Published on: June 13, 2011
Interictal plasma endothelin-1 levels do not change in individuals with episodic and chronic migraine
Jiyoung Kim1, Chae Gyu Park2,3,4, Min Kyung Chu5
1Department of Neurology, Bio Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Individuals with migraine present ictal elevation of endothelin-1 levels. Migraine can be subclassified into episodic migraine and chronic migraine. Apart from the inconsistent reports on interictal endothelin-1 levels, most studies did not distinguish between episodic migraine and chronic migraine.
Methods:
We measured plasma endothelin-1 levels in participants with episodic migraine (n = 87), with chronic migraine (n = 88), and controls (n = 50).
Results:
Interictal endothelin-1 levels were not significantly different among participants with episodic migraine, those with chronic migraine, and controls (pg/ml, median and interquartile range, 10.19 [7.76-13.69] vs. 9.25 [6.91-10.73] vs. 9.46 [7.00-14.19], p = 0.131). After excluding participants with fibromyalgia (n = 50) and medication-overuse headache (n = 21), endothelin-1 levels were still similar among groups (10.51 [7.96-14.10] vs. 9.24 [6.96-10.81] vs. 9.46 [7.00-14.19], p = 0.230). Endothelin-1 levels did not significantly differ among participants with migraine with aura, those with migraine without aura, and controls (9.36 [4.26-13.35] vs. 9.50 [7.23-13.02] vs. 9.46 [7.00-14.19], p = 0.975). There was no significant association of endothelin-1 with headache intensity (mild, 8.99 [8.99-8.99] vs. moderate, 8.71 [6.85-12.15] vs. severe, 9.55 [7.23-13.13], p = 0.517) or headache frequency per month (exponential and 95% confidence interval, 0.709 [0.296-1.698], p = 0.440) in participants with episodic migraine and chronic migraine.
Conclusions:
Interictal plasma endothelin-1 level is an unlikely marker for episodic migraine and chronic migraine.
