Abstract

Anmi Jose*, Jayakrishnan S. S., Ajith B.

ABSTRACT

Migraine is a chronic primary headache disorder that affects around 15 % of world population. It is usually felt as a throbbing pain on one side of the head. Many people also have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light or sound. Migraine is a common health condition, affecting around one in every five women and around one in every 15 men. They usually begin in early adulthood. Drugs that are currently taken for prophylaxis are not specific for migraine but include antiepileptic drugs, ?- blockers and antidepressants. Since these drugs are not migraine-specific, it may cause mild to serious side effects. So the use of older and current drugs for migraine prevention is limited by its inadequate efficacy, tolerability and patient adherence. A new class of drugs – calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitors – has recently been developed as a targeted therapy for migraine. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neurotransmitter produced by neurons in the brain. Studies showed that CGRP level increases during migraine attacks and have a major role in the pathology of migraine. Human studies also showed that people who suffer from migraines are more sensitive to CGRP levels, and high CGRP triggers migraine-like headaches within hours. Recent research on migraine is targeted on CGRP therapies such as CGRP receptor antagonist, CGRP antibodies and CGRP receptor antibodies. US-FDA on May 17, 2018 approved a new drug Erenumab- aooe which is a human immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) monoclonal antibody that has high affinity to CGRP receptor. CGRP-related therapies offer promising improvements over existing medications. Because they are designed specifically to act on the trigeminal pain system. They are more specific, targeted and they seem to have few or no adverse effects. So this new class of targeted drug will be a boon to migraine sufferers who are intolerable with other conventional drugs.