ArticleBMC neurology2023
Serum alpha-CGRP levels are increased in COVID-19 patients with headache indicating an activation of the trigeminal system.
Article in BMC neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cerebral arteriopathy and its role in persistent post-COVID headache and brain fog: a quantitative study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Intranasal SARS-CoV-2 infection changes the transcriptome of the mouse trigeminal ganglion and brainstem: potential mechanisms underlying headache and trigeminal pain presentation in COVID-19.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Monoclonal Antibody Treatment in Nine Cases of Persistent Headache Following COVID-19-Infection.Journal of Korean medical science · 2025Article
- Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide-Induced Central Sensitization: A Hypothesis for Long COVID Symptoms.Medical hypotheses · 2025Article
- Molecular insights into the bidirectional link between anxiety and COVID-19: a combined clinical and bioinformatics approach.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Migraine: The Patients' Perspective.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A retrospective cohort study: is COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination a trigger factor for cluster headache?Acta neurologica Belgica · 2024Article
- Untangling the mess of CGRP levels as a migraine biomarker: an in-depth literature review and analysis of our experimental experience.The journal of headache and pain · 2024Review
- Understanding Post-COVID-19: Mechanisms, Neurological Complications, Current Treatments, and Emerging Therapies.International journal of general medicine · 2024Article
- Altered metabolites in the periaqueductal gray of COVID-19 patients experiencing headaches: a longitudinal MRS study.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHeadache is among the most frequent symptoms of acute COVID-19 infection. Its mechanisms remain obscure, but due to its migraine-like characteristics, the activation of the trigeminal system could account for its underlying pathophysiology.
methodsOur aim was to compare the serum levels of CGRP, as a theoretical marker of trigemino-vascular activation, in 25 COVID-19 inpatients with lung involvement experiencing headache, against 15 COVID-19 inpatients without headache and with those of 25 matched healthy controls with no headache history.
resultsMorning serum alpha-CGRP levels, as measured by ELISA (Abbexa, UK), were increased in COVID-19 patients with headache (55.2±34.3 pg/mL) vs. controls (33.9±14.0 pg/mL) (p < 0.01). Alpha-CGRP levels in COVID-19 patients without headache were also significantly increased (43.3 ± 12.8 pg/mL; p = 0.05) versus healthy controls, but were numerically lower (-28.2%; p = 0.36) as compared to COVID-19 patients with headache.
conclusionCGRP levels are increased in COVID-19 patients experiencing headache in the acute phase of this disease, which could explain why headache frequently occurs in COVID-19 and strongly supports a role for trigeminal activation in the pathophysiology of headache in this viral infection.
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