Assessment of serum GLP-1 and DPP-4 levels in patients with migraine

Migraine is a neurovascular disorder that affects one billion people in the world and causes limitations in daily life. Although many theories have been suggested about its pathophysiolgy, there is still no definitive treatment. Headache occuring during attacks is associated with activation of trigeminal nerve endings. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that is thought to inhibit the breakdown of insulin. It has receptors in many brain regions, such as the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) in the brainstem and L-cells in the small intestine, alpha cells in the pancreas. It plays a role in many neuroprotective mechanisms in the central nervous system. At the same time, GLP-1 analogs are used in the treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) is an enzyme belonging to the protease family that degrades GLP-1. It decomposes incretins and appetite suppressing neuropeptides and renders them inactive. The aim of this study is to show whether GLP-1 and DPP-4 enzyme levels are associated with migraine pathophysiology in migraine patients and to provide a new approach in the treatment of migraine. In this study, 42 patients diagnosed with migraine as the migraine group; 42 people who were not diagnosed with migraine and applied to other outpatient clinics in the hospital were selected as the control group. After fasting for at least 8 hours, blood samples were taken from the volunteers and their serums were studied. Serum GLP-1 and DPP-4 were measured by ELISA method and statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 22.0 program. The results obtained showed that the serum levels of GLP-1 and DPP-4 were significantly lower in the sera of migraine patients compared to the control group (p<0.001). In the light of this information, the decrease in GLP-1 in patients with migraine can be considered as a factor in the formation of headache. This may explain the higher incidence of diabetes in patients with migraine.