Elevated vascular biomarkers were associated with migraine, a recent study found, particularly migraine with aura (MA), as well as with years of aura and number of aura attacks. Participants (300 women, 117 men) were aged 30–60 (mean 48) years, 155 MA, 128 migraine without aura (MO), and 134 were controls with no severe headaches. Plasma concentrations of fibrinogen, Factor II, D-dimer, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and von Willebrand factor antigen were compared between groups, also stratifying by sex. Researchers found:
- Fibrinogen and hs-CRP were elevated in migraineurs compared to controls.
- In logistic regression analyses, MO and MA had increased likelihood of elevated fibrinogen, and MA had increased likelihood of elevated Factor II and hs-CRP.
- Fibrinogen and Factor II were associated with MA in women but not men.
- In the migraine subgroup, the total number of years of aura, but not headache, predicted elevated hs-CRP, and the average number of aura, but not headache, attacks predicted all biomarkers but Factor II.
Migraine and vascular disease biomarkers: A population-based case-control study. Cephalalgia. 2018;38(3):511-518. doi:10.1177/0333102417698936.