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The cause of the migraine is a mutation of a section of the X chromosome
Last reviewed: 20.10.2021
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A region of the genome is found, mutations in which serve as one of the causes of migraine: this site is on the X chromosome and includes a gene that controls the level of iron in the brain cells.
From migraine suffer 12% of people, and women among them three times more than men. And do not think that women's complaints about bad health - this is some trick or result of increased suspiciousness of the fair sex: women are quite objective reasons to complain more often of headaches. Researchers from the University of Griffith (Australia) found that migraine depends on the genes on the X chromosome, that is, our ladies are indeed more at risk of getting this obscure disease.
Scientists were looking for migraine genes in Norfolk residents. Once upon a time, remnants of the rebels from the legendary Bounty ship crossed this island. Almost two hundred years of geographical isolation and the specific history of Norfolk, which for a long time was a prison island, led to the formation of a genetically homogenous population. If there is a certain genetic deviation, it is reproduced many times in subsequent generations. Scientists involved in human genetics have long used Norfolk to collect data. This is probably the only case when the riot on the ship had such a favorable effect on science ...
Strictly speaking, the main result of the research of Australian scientists was not that they found on the X chromosome a site whose mutations cause migraines. It turned out that there is a gene that controls the level of iron in the brain cells. The connection between the iron in the brain and migraine was first discovered, and now scientists have to understand how one affects the other. However, one should not think that this genetic anomaly is the only cause of migraines. Here we are most likely dealing with a complex intertwining of genetic and non-genetic factors, and in the case of genetic, it is unlikely that the matter is confined to one gene. At the same time, the results obtained will help to create both more adequate methods of diagnosis of migraine, and optimal methods of its treatment.
It remains, however, an important question: why this mutation was not washed out of the genome? Genetic change usually persists in generations, if it brings some benefit to the owner. But what benefits can there be for migraines? The authors of the paper suggest that migraine can be accompanied by increased sensitivity of neurons to various changes in the environment. Indeed, in some people, migraine attacks begin, for example, with a decrease in atmospheric pressure, and then it turns out that it is only a side effect of the "internal barometer", which allows you to escape from the weather in time. This is certainly an evolutionary plus, but this assumption still requires verification: it is painfully fantastic it sounds.