Researchers Analyzed Thousands of Human Genomes of Migraine Sufferers: Link Between Genetics and Blood Sugar Levels Confirmed
In a study published in Human Genetics, Professor Dale Nyholt and PhD candidate Rafiqul Islam, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), describe using Genomic Association Studies (GWAS) statistics to analyze hundreds of thousands of human genomes from people who suffer from migraines and headaches and people who do not. Professor Nyholt, from the QUT Center for Genomics and Personalized Health, said the co-occurrence of migraine and glycemia (blood sugar levels) have been reported in observational epidemiological studies, but the genetic link between the two conditions was not known.
“Around 15% of the world‘s population suffers from migraine and as early as 1935 migraine was described as a ‘glycemic headache’,” said Professor Nyholt. “By identifying genetic correlates and shared genes in our analyses, we inferred a causal association, confirming and improving understanding of the relationship between migraine, headache and glycemic traits. Glycemic traits such as insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin), hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and type 2 diabetes are associated with migraines and headaches.
The researchers performed cross-sectional analyzes to estimate the genetic correlation and added that further analyzes showed a causal relationship between migraine and headache and multiple glycemic traits. “Of the nine glycemic traits examined, we found a significant genetic correlation for fasting insulin (blood insulin level) and glycated hemoglobin, with both migraine and headache, whereas glucose was only genetically related with migraine,” he said. “We also found regions harboring shared genetic risk factors between migraine and fasting insulin, fasting glucose and glycated haemoglobin. For headache, regions shared with glucose, fasting insulin, glycated hemoglobin, and fasting proinsulin”. The study was published in Human Genetics.
