Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Bologna, Via U. Foscolo 7, Bologna, Italy.
Cephalalgia. 2011 Jun;31(8):973-6. doi: 10.1177/0333102411403634. Epub 2011 Mar 28.
Hypocretins (orexins) are hypothalamic neuropeptides which are involved in a wide range of physiological processes in mammals including central pain processing. Genetic studies in humans evidenced a role for the hypocretinergic system in cluster headache (CH).
We tested cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hypocretin-1 (orexin-A) levels in 10 CH patients during an active cluster period. CSF hypocretin-1 levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.
CSF hypocretin-1 levels were within the normal range (mean 457.3±104.98 pg/ml, range 304-639) in our 10 patients, with a slight reduction in one case (304 pg/ml). There were no associations between CSF hypocretin-1 levels and the clinical features of CH. A trend towards higher hypocretin-1 levels was disclosed in patients with chronic CH compared to episodic CH.
CSF hypocretin-1 levels seem not to influence the clinical course of CH, but our results cannot completely exclude a functional involvement of the hypothalamic hypocretinergic system in the pathogenesis of CH.
下丘脑分泌素（食欲肽）是一种下丘脑神经肽，参与哺乳动物的广泛生理过程，包括中枢疼痛处理。人类的遗传研究表明，下丘脑分泌素能系统在丛集性头痛（CH）中起作用。
我们在 10 名 CH 患者的活跃丛集期测试了脑脊液（CSF）中下丘脑分泌素-1（食欲肽-A）的水平。通过放射免疫测定法测量 CSF 下丘脑分泌素-1 水平。
我们的 10 名患者的 CSF 下丘脑分泌素-1 水平在正常范围内（平均值为 457.3±104.98pg/ml，范围为 304-639），一例略有降低（304pg/ml）。CSF 下丘脑分泌素-1 水平与 CH 的临床特征之间无关联。与发作性 CH 相比，慢性 CH 患者的下丘脑分泌素-1 水平呈升高趋势。
CSF 下丘脑分泌素-1 水平似乎不会影响 CH 的临床病程，但我们的结果不能完全排除下丘脑分泌素能系统在 CH 发病机制中的功能参与。
