Sex Hormones and CGRP

Migraine is three times more prevalent in women than in men. The mechanisms behind the sex disparity in migraine are not completely understood, but it is thought to be mediated through changes in ovarian steroid hormones. Migraine pathophysiology is considered to involve an activation of the trigeminovascular system and the subsequent release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP); therefore, an interaction between ovarian steroid hormones, the trigeminovascular system, and CGRP has been suggested. Although studies are scarce, it has been shown that indeed there is a cross talk and that further studies could lead to the development of sex-specific treatments.This chapter provides a summary of the studies that have evaluated the sex differences in CGRP, in both preclinical and clinical models of migraine and their possible implications for migraine pathophysiology and treatment