Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)
Objective: This review aims to look at the possible effects of vitamins on migraine in terms of pathophysiology and clinical presentation. In the last years, there are several articles indicative of the positive role of food supplements in migraine.
Methods: Our research team has had some studies on the effects of vitamins on migraine. Here we are going to present the result of our studies on Vitamin B groups and Vitamin D.
Result: It seems that the positive effect of Vitamin D3 on migraine is through suppressing neuroinflammation, such as its effect on CGRP, TGF-β, IL-17 levels and Th17/Treg-related cytokines balance. Supplementing migraineurs with vitamin D reduced the frequency of attacks, according to our study. In another study, we found that CGRP level was significantly lower following vitamin D supplementation than patients in the placebo arm (P-value = 0.022). Energy-deficit syndrome with mitochondrial dysfunction should be considered an upstream disorder in migraine pathophysiology. A majority of vitamin B group including Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, and Pantothenic Acid are involved in metabolic and energy production pathways. Besides vitamin B12 is thought to be involved in important pathways that seem to be related to the pathogenesis of migraine including scavenging against NO and prevention of hyperhomocysteinemia. The findings of our study on migraine patients suggest that participants with lower vitamin B12 and higher MMA levels that are considered to lower functional activity of B12 had higher odds of migraine. Our team also found that supplementation with folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and vitamin B1 significantly reduced headache frequency and intensity.
Conclusion: It seems that deficiency of vitamin D3 and vitamin B group might lead to initiation or aggravation of migraine and supplementation of these vitamins could improve it possibly through their effects in the neuroinflammation pathway or/and energy generation in the mitochondria.