Effects of estrogen on calcitonin gene-related peptide gene expression in trigeminal ganglion of migraine rats

    WANG Shuª²Hua, WU Shengª²Xi, ZHOU Liang, CHEN Yaª²Qiong

    1Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Xijing hospital, 2Department of Anatomy & K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the effects of estrogen on calcitonin geneª²related peptide gene expression in the trigeminal ganglion of migraine rats. METHODS: Ovariectomized rats were divided randomly into three groups: ovariectomized group (OVX), low dose estradiolª²treated ovariectomized group (OVX+LDET) and high dose estradiolª²treated ovariectomized group (OVX+HDET). Half of the rats were then used to establish migraine model by subcutaneous injection of nitroglycerin and RTª²PCR was used to detect the expression level of CGRP mRNA in the trigeminal ganglion of each group. RESULTS: Compared with those in estradiolª²treated ovariectomized group, the expression of CGRP mRNA in the trigeminal ganglion significantly increased in the ovariectomized group (P<0.05). In both the ovariectomized group and low dose estradiolª²treated ovariectomized group, nitroglycerin (NTG) produced a significant increase in the expression of CGRP mRNA than that before the NTG injection (P<0.05). In high dose estradiolª²treated ovariectomized group, there was no significant change in CGRP mRNA expression before and after NTG administration (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Overª²expression of CGRP in the trigeminal ganglion of migraine rat may be one of molecular mechanisms to trigger migraine. Estrogen can modulate the expression of CGRP in the trigeminal ganglion, which may be associated with women migraine. ......