What the Gut Can Teach Us About Migraine

Overview

Journal Curr Pain Headache Rep

Date 2015 Jun 8

PMID 26049770

Citations 22

Authors

Nada Hindiyeh

Sheena K Aurora

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

During gestation, cells of the brain and gut develop almost simultaneously into the central nervous system (CNS) and enteric nervous system (ENS), respectively. They remain connected via the vagal nerve lifelong. While it is well known that the brain sends signal to the gut, communication is in fact bidirectional. Just as the brain can modulate gut functioning, the gut, and likely what we ingest, can in fact influence our brain functioning. We will first review both gastrointestinal (GI) function and migraine pathophysiology and then discuss evidence linking the migraine brain to various GI disorders. Lastly, we discuss the effects of gut microbiota on brain functioning and speculate how the gut and particularly diet may affect migraine.

Citing Articles

The Interplay Between Gut Microbiota, Adipose Tissue, and Migraine: A Narrative Review.

Biagioli V, Mela F, Ferraro P, Villano G, Orsini A, Diana M Nutrients. 2025; 17(2).

PMID: 39861467 PMC: 11768392. DOI: 10.3390/nu17020337.

Effects of probiotic and vitamin D co-supplementation on clinical symptoms, mental health, and inflammation in adult patients with migraine headache: a randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.

Tirani S, Khorvash F, Saneei P, Moradmand Z, Askari G BMC Med. 2024; 22(1):457.

PMID: 39394141 PMC: 11470646. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-024-03684-6.

Migraine is associated with the development of adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide, population-based study.

Lee C, Han K, Lee H, Yu H, Kim S, Choi K Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):1157.

PMID: 38212517 PMC: 10784488. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51455-3.

Association Between Migraine and Gastrointestinal Disease in Pediatric Patients: A Propensity Score Weighting Approach.

Rhew K Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2023; 19:2607-2615.

PMID: 38046830 PMC: 10693275. DOI: 10.2147/NDT.S442635.

The Gut-brain Connection and Episodic Migraine: an Update.

Nguyen L, Hindiyeh N, Ray S, Vann R, Aurora S Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2023; 27(11):765-774.

PMID: 37792173 PMC: 10713702. DOI: 10.1007/s11916-023-01175-6.

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