Elevated Frequency of HLA Shared‐Haplotypes in Migraine Families

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Associations between HLA antigens and disease susceptibility have been investigated in several pathological conditions. Previous studies in selected migraine populations did not reveal any association with the HLA system. It is widely accepted that migraine is a disease with familial incidence. The genetic basis of migraine occurrence within 8 families with more than one member affected in two generations was studied. 60 individuals were studied; 33 of them were affected by migraine. HLA‐A,B,C,DR typing was performed in 41 individuals using the microlymphocytotoxicity technique of Terasaki. The studied pedigrees failed to identify a particular HLA antigen or HLA haplotype as a genetic marker of migraine. Among the total number of HLA typed individuals entering the study, Sib‐pair analysis was done in 20 pairs. The observed frequency of shared‐haplotypes differed from the expected frequency: 60% of compared pairs shared one haplotype (expected frequency 50%) and 30% shared two haplotypes (expected frequency 25%).

Tumor Necrosis Factor Gene Polymorphism in Migraine

“…The first study of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antigens in migraine was published by Kudrow more than 20 years ago 8 . Investigating subjects with MWOA, we demonstrated in eight households an increase of shared HLA haplotypes, suggesting that migraine heredity could be HLA‐linked 9 . More recently, we found that HLA class II DR2 antigen is decreased in MWA relative to both MWOA and controls, supporting the hypothesis of a protective role of DR2 antigen in MWA and providing additional basis for the proposed difference in the genetics of MWOA versus MWA 10 …”

HLA and migraine genes

“…In the case of MWoA, my colleagues and I previously demonstrated in 8 households an increase of shared HLA haplotypes, suggesting that migraine heredity was HLA-linked [7]. Sib-pair analysis performed in 20 sons demonstrated that 30% of the affected sons shared two haplotypes, 60% shared one haplotype, and 10% shared no haplotype (Table 1).…”

Familial Migraine in a Mexican Population

“…These studies should be population-based. Clues to the nature of the inherited trait may come from studies like the recent one of Giacovazzo et al [8], who studied HLA antigens in families with migraine. Siblings with mi graine were found to share certain haplotypes with a higher frequency than expected [8].…”