Effects of cluster headache preventatives on mouse hypothalamic transcriptional homeostasis.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate how cluster headache preventatives verapamil, lithium and prednisone affect expression of hypothalamic genes involved in chronobiology.

METHODS

C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to daily, oral treatment with verapamil, lithium, prednisone or amitriptyline (as negative control), and transcripts of multiple genes quantified in the anterior, lateral and posterior hypothalamus.

RESULTS

Verapamil, lithium or prednisone did not affect expression of clock genes of the anterior hypothalamus (, , and ). Prednisone altered expression of hypothalamic neuropeptides and within the lateral and posterior hypothalamus, respectively. The three preventatives did not affect expression of the neurohypophyseal hormones and in the posterior hypothalamus. Conversely, amitriptyline reduced mRNA levels of , and

CONCLUSION

Data suggest that cluster headache preventatives act upstream or downstream from the hypothalamus. Our findings provide new insights on hypothalamic homeostasis during cluster headache prophylaxis, as well as neurochemistry underlying cluster headache treatment.