Repeated inflammatory dural stimulation-induced cephalic allodynia causes alteration of gut microbial composition in rats

Exploring the anti-migraine effects of Tianshu capsule: chemical profile, metabolic behavior, and therapeutic mechanisms

BACKGROUND

Migraine is widely recognized as the third most prevalent medical condition globally. Tianshu capsule (TSC), derived from "Da Chuan Xiong Fang" of the Jin dynasty, is integral in the clinical treatment of migraine. However, the chemical properties and therapeutic mechanisms of TSC different portions remain unclear.

PURPOSE

This study was designed to investigate the effects of TSC different portions (including small molecular TSCP-SM and polysaccharides TSC-P) on migraine and explore the underlying mechanisms.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

First of all, migraine rats were established by nitroglycerin injection and treated with TSC, TSC-P, and TSC-SM. ELISA, qPCR, and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate the pharmacological effects on migraine rats. Secondly, UPLC-Q/TOF-MS and GC--MS were employed to detect the components of TSC-SM. PMP-HPLC, NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, AFM, and SEM were used for the chemical profiling of polysaccharides. Thirdly, the metabolic behavior profile of TSC-P was characterized by oral administrated fluorescence-labeled TSC-P and detected by NIRF imaging. Finally, the anti-migraine mechanisms were explored by determining the composition of gut microbiota, analyzing colonic short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and examining serum tryptophan-related metabolites.

RESULTS

Both small molecules (45 volatiles and 114 small molecules) and polysaccharides (including Glc, Ara, Gal, and Gal A) have exhibited effectiveness in alleviating migraine, and this efficacy is associated with reduced CGRP and iNOS levels, along with increased β-EP expressions. Further mechanistic exploration revealed that small-molecules exhibited effectiveness in migraine treatment by exerting antioxidative actions, while polysaccharides demonstrated superior therapeutic effects in regulating 5-HT levels. By monitoring the metabolic behavior of polysaccharides with fluorescent labeling, it was observed that TSC-P exhibited poor absorption. Instead, TSC-P demonstrated its therapeutic effects by modulating the aberrations in gut microbiota (including Alloprevotella, Muribaculaceae_ge, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005), cecum short-chain fatty acids (such as isobutyric, isovaleric, and valeric acids), and serum tryptophan-related metabolites (including indole-3-acetamide, tryptophol, and indole-3-propionic acid).

CONCLUSION

This research provides innovative insights into chemical composition, metabolic behavior, and proposed anti-migraine mechanisms of TSC from a polarity-based perspective, and pioneering an exploration focused on the polysaccharide components within TSC for the first time.

Alleviation of migraine related pain and anxiety by inhibiting calcium-stimulating AC1-dependent CGRP in the insula of adult rats

BACKGROUND

Recent animal and clinical findings consistently highlight the critical role of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in chronic migraine (CM) and related emotional responses. CGRP antibodies and receptor antagonists have been approved for CM treatment. However, the underlying CGRP-related signaling pathways in the pain-related cortex remain poorly understood.

METHODS

The SD rats were used to establish the CM model by dural infusions of inflammatory soup. Periorbital mechanical thresholds were assessed using von-Frey filaments, and anxiety-like behaviors were observed via open field and elevated plus maze tests. Expression of c-Fos, CGRP and NMDA GluN2B receptors was detected using immunofluorescence and western blotting analyses. The excitatory synaptic transmission was detected by whole-cell patch-clamp recording. A human-used adenylate cyclase 1 (AC1) inhibitor, hNB001, was applied via insula stereotaxic and intraperitoneal injections in CM rats.

RESULTS

The insular cortex (IC) was activated in the migraine model rats. Glutamate-mediated excitatory transmission and NMDA GluN2B receptors in the IC were potentiated. CGRP levels in the IC significantly increased during nociceptive and anxiety-like activities. Locally applied hNB001 in the IC or intraperitoneally alleviated periorbital mechanical thresholds and anxiety behaviors in migraine rats. Furthermore, CGRP expression in the IC decreased after the hNB001 application.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study indicated that AC1-dependent IC plasticity contributes to migraine and AC1 may be a promising target for treating migraine in the future.

To analyze the relationship between gut microbiota, metabolites and migraine: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Background

It has been suggested in several observational studies that migraines are associated with the gut microbiota. It remains unclear, however, how the gut microbiota and migraines are causally related.

Methods

We performed a bidirectional two-sample mendelian randomization study. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for the gut microbiota were obtained from the MiBioGen consortium (n = 18,340) and the Dutch Microbiota Project (n = 7,738). Pooled GWAS data for plasma metabolites were obtained from four different human metabolomics studies. GWAS summary data for migraine (cases = 48,975; controls = 450,381) were sourced from the International Headache Genetics Consortium. We used inverse-variance weighting as the primary analysis. Multiple sensitivity analyses were performed to ensure the robustness of the estimated results. We also conducted reverse mendelian randomization when a causal relationship between exposure and migraine was found.

Results

LachnospiraceaeUCG001 (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.05-1.20) was a risk factor for migraine. Blautia (OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.88-0.99), Eubacterium (nodatum group; OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98), and Bacteroides fragilis (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.94-1.00) may have a suggestive association with a lower migraine risk. Functional pathways of methionine synthesis (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.83-0.95) associated with microbiota abundance and plasma hydrocinnamate (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.73-1.00), which are downstream metabolites of Blautia and Bacteroides fragilis, respectively, may also be associated with lower migraine risk. No causal association between migraine and the gut microbiota or metabolites was found in reverse mendelian randomization analysis. Both significant horizontal pleiotropy and significant heterogeneity were not clearly identified.

Conclusion

This Mendelian randomization analysis showed that LachnospiraceaeUCG001 was associated with an increased risk of migraine, while some bacteria in the gut microbiota may reduce migraine risk. These findings provide a reference for a deeper comprehension of the role of the gut-brain axis in migraine as well as possible targets for treatment interventions.

A Bibliometric and Scientific Knowledge Map Study of Migraine Treatment from 2013 to 2022

Background

Migraine treatment research has made much great progress over the past decade. However, there have been few bibliometric studies conducted so far. In this study, bibliometric analysis was used to explore the current status and future trends of migraine treatment research.

Methods

Migraine treatment-related articles were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection on December 7, 2022. Quantitative variables were analyzed by the R-tool bibliometrix and Excel 2020. VOS viewer and CiteSpace software were used to visualize citation, co-authorship, co-occurrence, and co-citation analysis of countries/regions, organizations, authors, references, and keywords.

Results

A total of 3294 articles were included with the global publication output showing a slow upward trend. The United States was the most productive country with 1116 papers and gained the most citations. Albert Einstein College of Medicine was the most active institution with 176 papers. Headache published the most articles in this domain, while Cephalalgia was the most commonly co-cited journal. Lipton, RB published the most articles and had the most citations. Tepper S, 2017, Lancet neurology and Silberstein S, 2004, Cephalalgia were defined as classic articles. The current research mainly focuses on CGRP-related therapeutics, such as fremanezumab, erenumab and ubrogepant.

Conclusion

Based on the analysis of bibliometric data on migraine treatment over the past decade, the trends and the knowledge graph of the country, organization, author, reference, and the keyword were identified, providing accurate and quick positioning of the critical information in the domain.

A causal effects of gut microbiota in the development of migraine

BACKGROUND

The causal association between the gut microbiome and the development of migraine and its subtypes remains unclear.

METHODS

The single nucleotide polymorphisms concerning gut microbiome were retrieved from the gene-wide association study (GWAS) of the MiBioGen consortium. The summary statistics datasets of migraine, migraine with aura (MA), and migraine without aura (MO) were obtained from the GWAS meta-analysis of the International Headache Genetics Consortium (IHGC) and FinnGen consortium. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was used as the primary method, complemented by sensitivity analyses for pleiotropy and increasing robustness.

RESULTS

In IHGC datasets, ten, five, and nine bacterial taxa were found to have a causal association with migraine, MA, and MO, respectively, (IVW, all P < 0.05). Genus.Coprococcus3 and genus.Anaerotruncus were validated in FinnGen datasets. Nine, twelve, and seven bacterial entities were identified for migraine, MA, and MO, respectively. The causal association still exists in family.Bifidobacteriaceae and order.Bifidobacteriales for migraine and MO after FDR correction. The heterogeneity and pleiotropy analyses confirmed the robustness of IVW results.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrates that gut microbiomes may exert causal effects on migraine, MA, and MO. We provide novel evidence for the dysfunction of the gut-brain axis on migraine. Future study is required to verify the relationship between gut microbiome and the risk of migraine and its subtypes and illustrate the underlying mechanism between them.

Integrated 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomics analysis to investigate the antidepressant role of Yang-Xin-Jie-Yu decoction on microbe-gut-metabolite in chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depression rat model

Objectives: Our goals were to evaluate the antidepressant efficacy of Yang-Xin-Jie-Yu Decoction (YXJYD) in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress (CUMS)-induced depression rat model and to investigate the underlying mechanisms.

Design: We used CUMS-induced depression rat model to evaluate whether oral administration of YXJYD with different doses (2.1 g/kg, 1.05 g/kg and 0.525 g/kg, respectively) improve the depressive-like symptoms, and then performed UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS to explore the active ingredients of YXJYD. Subsequently, rat’s cecal contents, serum, and urine were collected from the control group, CUMS model group, and YXJYD high-dose (2.1 g/kg) treatment group. The 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on the cecal contents, based on Illumina MiSeq platform, and ANOVA analysis were used to analyze the composition variety and screen differential expression of gut bacteria in the three groups. 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis was used for analyzing the metabolites obtained from cecal contents, serum, and urine, and KEGG enrichment analysis was used to identify pathways of differential metabolites. An integrated 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomic data were conducted to characterize the underlying mechanisms of YXJYD

Results: The gut microbial communities, and serum, cecal content, urine metabolic compositions were significantly significantly altered in CUMS-induced depressive rats, while YXJYD effectively ameliorated the CUMS-associated gut microbiota dysbiosis, especially of Monoglobus, and alleviated the disturbance of serum, cecal content, urine metabolome and reversed the changes of key depressive and gut microbiota-related metabolites, such as succinic acid, taurine, hippuric acid, melatonin. With an integrated study of the gut microbiota and metabolomes, we identified the pathway of tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) and propanoate metabolism as the regulated target of YXJYD on host-microbiome interaction.

Conclusion: Our findings further confirmed the imbalance of metabolism and intestinal microbial is closely related to CUMS-induced depression. YXJYD regulates gut microbiome to affect body metabolomes and then produce antidepressant-like effect in CUMS-induced depressive rats while its molecular mechanism possibly be increased Monoglobus abundance in gut microbiota and regulated the TCA cycle pathway and propanoate metabolism in host.