Association of Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, and Interictal Serum Levels of Cytokines in Migraine with and without Aura

The aim of the study was to clarify correlations between body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and serum levels of cytokines in female migraine patients. A total of 14 migraineurs with aura, and 12 without aura during their interictal period were compared with 25 controls. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were measured. Migraineurs have elevated levels of IL-8, but decreased serum levels of PAI-1 and sICAM-1 during the interictal period, regardless of aura. BMI correlates with BP, and also with IFN-γ and MMP-9 only in patients with aura. There are three correlations in migraine patients with aura that are absent in patients without aura: between IL-8 and PAI-1; MMP-9 and IL-8; and IL-8 and sICAM-1. Migraineurs without aura, on the other hand, have correlations that patients with aura do not have (between PAI-1 and MCP-1, sICAM-1; between MMP-9 and sICAM-1, MCP-1; between TGF-α and PAI-1, MMP-9, sICAM-1; between sICAM-1 and MMP-9, PAI-1, MCP-1; as well as between sVCAM-1 and MCP-1). PAI-1, TGF, and MMP-9 could be used as biomarkers to distinguish migraineurs from healthy individuals.