Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41036277›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neurology2025

Blood pressure lowering for prevention of episodic migraine: results of a pilot randomized, placebo-controlled trial of combination blood pressure lowering medication with propranolol.

Cheryl Carcel, Faraidoon Haghdoost, Leo Davies, Dennis Cordato, Lyn Griffiths, Grace Balicki, Qiang Li, Ruth Freed, Craig S Anderson, Alessandro S Zagami and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Cheryl Carcel *The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Faraidoon Haghdoost *The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Leo DaviesDepartment of Neurology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Dennis CordatoDepartment of Neurology, Liverpool Hospital,, Liverpool, NSW, Australia.
Lyn GriffithsCentre for Genomics and Personalised Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Grace BalickiThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Qiang LiThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Ruth FreedThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Craig S AndersonThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Alessandro S ZagamiInstitute of Neurological Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Candice DelcourtThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Anthony RodgersThe George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Beta blockers are effective in migraine prevention. Low-dose combination therapy of blood pressure lowering is likely to lower blood pressure more than a beta-blocker, but there are no data on comparative efficacy of these treatments in migraine prophylaxis. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, pilot trial in participants with episodic migraine to assess feasibility and tolerability of low-dose triple combination BP lowering (telmisartan 20 mg, amlodipine 2.5 mg and indapamide 1.25 mg) vs. propranolol 160 mg daily vs. matching placebos. The primary outcome was monthly headache days. Results: Between March 2017 and June 2018, 378 participants were screened and 30 were randomized (8%). The key reasons for ineligibility among screen failures were low blood pressure (86, 26%), unwilling to participate in a drug trial (76, 23%) and not meeting episodic migraine criteria (54, 16%). Among those randomized, mean age was 49 years, 83% female, baseline migraine frequency was 67 h, aura present in 47%, mean baseline BP was 131/87 mmHg. As expected from a small pilot, the confidence intervals for treatment effect estimates were wide: reduction in monthly headache days for the low-dose triple were -0.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] -2.9, 1.8) and for propranolol -1.1 (95% CI -3.8, 1.6) compared to placebo. Tolerability was good, there were no dropouts from adverse events. Conclusion: As a pilot study, the trial was not powered to detect efficacy; larger trials are required to determine the effect of low-dose triple combination blood pressure lowering on migraine. The medication was safe and well tolerated by participants with migraine; it is likely that study co-design with people with lived experience of migraine will benefit recruitment into the trial. Clinical trial registration: ACTRN12616000937415, https://anzctr.org.au/.

Indexed as

antihypertensive treatmentfeasibilitymigrainerandomized trialstolerability

Identifiers

PMID41036277
PMCPMC12479289

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.