Familial hemiplegic migraine: correlations with genotype, phenotype and electrophysiological features

• Grant number: 05/02512-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2005
• End date: April 30, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Célia Harumi Tengan
• Grantee: Célia Harumi Tengan
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The first gene causing migraine, CACNA1A, was described in a rare subtype, familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM). Mutations have also been found in ATP1A2 gene, though some families with FHM did not demonstrate any mutation in these genes, suggesting that at least another gene may be responsible for FHM. The discovery of these genes related to migraine are very recent and led to several studies in populations from Europe. However, at the best of our knowledge, there are no published studies on genetic defects on Brazilian patients with FHM. Functional state in nervous system has been studied in different ways, recently it was demonstrated an abnormality on habituation of evoked potential responses in migraine. The relevance of this abnormality on physiology of migraine is not known. The objective of this study is to characterype the genotype of patients and relatives with FHM and make correlations with phenotype and possible abnormalities on somatosensorial evoked potential responses. (AU)