Potassium channel openers—novel triggers of aura and migraine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582- 021- 00517- 5

Abstract-Summary Results of two recent studies by Messoud Ashina and colleagues demonstrate that infusion of two different potassium channel openers can trigger migraine in humans; one of the compounds also triggered aura in patients diagnosed with migraine with aura.

[Section 1] Triggered migraine attacks are similar to spontaneous attacks, but are predictable These findings suggest that opening of KATP channels and BKCa channels is involved in the genesis of migraine pain, and that the opening of KATP channels is also involved in the triggering of migraine aura.

Having identified a role for openers of the BKCa and KATP channels in migraine, larger replication studies are now needed, particularly to confirm that levcromaka- lim triggers both migraine aura and headache.

Blocking these two potassium channels will be a useful tool for further explora- tion of migraine The new studies by Ashina and colleagues [234, 235] are the first to assess the migraine-triggering potential of potassium channel openers in people with migraine, and the results highlight the utility of human experimental models of migraine for identifying new therapeutic targets for the condition.

Acknowledgement A machine generated summary based on the work of Rapoport, Alan M.; Lipton, Richard B. 2021 in Nature Reviews Neurology.

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