Lack of Sleep:Triggers Migraine Proteins
June 30th 2010 21:27
No sleep=Pain
New Research Helps Explain Why Sleep Deprivation Triggers Migraines, Other Chronic Pain Conditions
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD
June 24, 2010 -- Not getting enough sleep or having poor sleep habits can trigger migraines or cause occasional migraines to become frequent. Now new research may help explain the biological links between sleep and headache pain.
Pain researchers from Missouri State University report that rats deprived of REM sleep showed changes in the expression of key proteins that suppress and trigger chronic pain.
The sleep-deprived rats secreted high levels of proteins that arouse the nervous system and low levels of proteins that shut it down, lead researcher Paul L. Durham, PhD, tells WebMD.
Durham is scheduled to report the findings this weekend at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Los Angeles.
"In stressful situations such as sleep deprivation, these arousal proteins occur at levels that are high enough to trigger pain," he says.
Lack of Sleep Disrupted Migraine Proteins
In the study, Durham and colleagues deprived one group of rats of REM sleep for three consecutive nights while allowing another group to sleep normally.
They found that the sleep deprivation caused increased expression of proteins p38 and PKA, which help regulate sensory response in facial nerves thought to play a key role in migraines, known as the trigeminal nerves.
Lack of REM sleep also triggered increased expression of the P2X3 protein, which is linked to the initiation of chronic pain.
"People with headaches often have a hard time sleeping," he says. "It is easy to see how several nights of interrupted sleep can make people more susceptible to developing a chronic pain state."
The study was funded by drug manufacturer Merck & Co.
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