A drug would be useful for pre-migraine pain

WASHINGTON (EFE).— The onset of a migraine can be preceded by symptoms such as light sensitivity, fatigue, dizziness, and neck pain . A study suggests that a drug used to treat migraines also reduces preexisting symptoms.

“Nature Medicine” reports on a study led by King's College London using the drug ubrogepant, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of migraines.

The team conducted an exploratory analysis using data from the Phase 3 Prodrome clinical trial, and the results suggest that ubrogepant reduces common symptoms that occur in the hours before migraine headache onset and could be the first acute treatment for them.

Most migraine research has focused on treating the headache itself, and none has demonstrated efficacy in relieving early premonitory symptoms, which often last for hours and can cause dysfunction.

The study involved 438 people aged 18 to 75 with at least a year's history of migraines. They were divided into two groups. One group received 100 milligrams of the drug, and the other received a placebo after the onset of premonitory symptoms. Participants expected a headache within one to six hours.

In a second episode of prodromal (pre-migraine) symptoms, at least seven days later, participants took the opposite treatment (ubrogepant or placebo).

Ubrogepant is a drug that blocks the CGRP receptor on neurons responsible for pain transmission, but its potential ability to treat premonitory symptoms of migraine was unclear.

When participants received the drug, they reported improvements in their ability to concentrate one hour after treatment, less sensitivity to light two hours later, and less fatigue and neck pain after three hours, compared to the placebo group.

Symptoms of dizziness and sensitivity to sound also decreased in participants who were seen between four and 24 hours after treatment.

These findings suggest that ubrogepant may be an effective treatment for common premonitory symptoms, with improvements possibly beginning as soon as one hour after administration, Nature Medicine reports.

However, additional studies specifically designed to evaluate the effect of acute treatment on prodromal symptoms are needed.