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Objective.—To better define the involvement of human leukocyte antigen region (HLA) genes in migraine via an association study of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) genes, located in the HLA class III region, with migraine with and without aura. Background.—Migraine without aura and migraine with aura are disorders involving multiple factors—environmental and genetic. In a previous study, we hypothesized a protective role for the HLA-DR2 antigen, providing additional basis for the proposed genetic heterogeneity between migraine without aura and migraine with aura. The cytokines produced by TNF genes are polypeptide effectors of inflammatory reaction and endothelial function. Methods.—Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-308 (TNF-308A and TNF-308G alleles) and lymphotoxin α (TNFB*1 and TNFB*2 alleles) polymorphisms were analyzed by the Nco I-cleaved polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments in 47 patients with migraine without aura, 32 patients with migraine with aura, and 101 migraine-free controls. Results.—The frequency of TNFB*2 allele was significantly increased in our patients with migraine without aura as compared with the control group (78.72% versus 61.4%, P c = .004), but no significant differences were found between patients with migraine with aura and controls. Additionally, there was a significant decrease of TNFB*1 homozygotes in patients with migraine without aura compared with the control group (2.13% versus 16.8%, P c = .0201). Carriage of the TNFB*2 allele confers a high risk for the development of migraine without aura. No significant association was found at TNF-308 polymorphism. Conclusion.—These data support the hypothesis that lymphotoxin α could be a susceptibility gene in migraine without aura and confirm previous data indicating that migraine with and without aura are distinct entities with different genetic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migraine without aura (MO) and migraine with aura (MA) are disorders involving multiple environmental and genetic factors. The A/G polymorphism located within exon 1 of the gene encoding the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA–4) is associated with several HLA–associated multifactorial diseases. The CTLA–4 family shows a negative control on T–cell proliferation and cytokine production (TNF–α and IL–10). In the present study we investigated the contribution of the candidate gene CTLA–4 in migraine pathophysiology. Included in the study were 96 MO and 39 MA migraine patients and 106 healthy individuals as control group. The results showed no statistical difference of allele frequencies between patient group and control group. These results would indicate no association between MA and MO migraine and CTLA–4 polymorphism, excluding any possible role of the CTLA–4 gene as a genetic factor determining susceptibility to migraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]