Effect of Obesity and Leptin Level on Migraineurs

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of obesity and leptin levels on patients with migraine, and to observe the change of leptin levels in migraineurs. MATERIAL/METHODS: We enrolled 52 migraine patients from the Headache Clinic in Shandong Provincial Hospital into a randomized controlled trial with another 52 age-, sex-, and BMI-matched healthy subjects as controls. Leptin levels in all subjects were determined by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the migraineurs revealed no significant change in leptin levels (P>0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that neither abdominal obesity nor leptin had significant impact on migraine clinical features. Total body obesity had a significant effect on the frequency (OR=4.248), duration (OR=3.167), and intensity (OR=5.225) of the headache. CONCLUSIONS: Total body obesity affected headache frequency, intensity, and duration, while leptin levels did not.