Endothelial Function in Patients with Migraine without Aura during the Interictal Period

BACKGROUND: In most of the studies, the association of vascular events is limited to migraine with aura or it is stronger in this group, whereas the link between migraine without aura (MO) and vascular events remained uncertain. Therefore, we decided to evaluate endothelial function by chemical and functional markers of endothelium in MO and compare with normal population. METHODS: In this study, 39 patients and 25 healthy subjects were enrolled and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), C-reactive protein (CRP), nitrite and nitrate were measured in these two groups. RESULTS: The mean of FMD in healthy people was higher than the migraine patients (mean difference − 7.67%; 95% confidence interval [CI] −9.90-−5.44). The means of nitrite concentration in migraineurs was significantly lower than healthy subjects (mean difference − 2.0 μmol/L; 95% CI − 3.45-−0.54). But the CRP concentrations in both groups were not significantly different (mean difference 0.42 pmol/L; 95% CI − 0.13-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: This study can show the endothelial dysfunction in migraineurs without aura and suggest that MO could also be a risk for cardiovascular disease.