The genetics of migraine

Migraine is currently considered to be a multifactorial disease in that it is modified by environmental and genetic factors and has a polygenic determination. Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), a subtype of migraine with aura conforming to simple mendelian transmission, has been shown to result from mutations in the CACNA1A gene, a neural calcium channel gene. FHM is allelic with episodic ataxia type 2 and spinocerebellar ataxia type 6. FHM is genetically heterogeneous, with at least another linkage locus on chromosome 1. Association and linkage studies have also been performed in migraine with and without aura, the so–called typical migraines, without however definite results up to now.