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Background: The genetic substrate for headache in the general population has not been identified in Asians. We investigated susceptible genetic variants for self-reported headache in a large community-based Asian population. Methods: We conducted a genome-wide association study in participants recruited from a community-based cohort to identify the genetic variants associated with headache in Taiwanese. All participants received a structured questionnaire for self-reported headache. A total of 2084 patients with "self-reported headache" and 11,822 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled. Gene enrichment analysis using the Genotype-Tissue Expression version 6 database was performed to explore the potential function of the identified variants. Results: We identified two novel loci, rs10493859 in TGFBR3 and rs13312779 in FGF23, that are functionally relevant to vascular function and migraine to be significantly associated with self-reported headache after adjusting age, sex and top 10 principal components (p = 8.53 × 10−11 and p = 1.07 × 10−8, respectively). Gene enrichment analysis for genes with GWAS suggestive significance (p < 10−6) demonstrated that the expression of these genes was significantly enriched in the artery (p = 8.18 × 10−4) and adipose tissue (p = 8.95 × 10−4). Conclusion: Our results suggest that vascular dysfunction might play important roles in the pathogenesis of self-reported headache in Asian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Gabapentin is well known for pain control. Here, we report that gabapentin is a good adjunct for visceral pain in a porphyria patient., Case Report: A young female was admitted due to acute abdomen. On admission, she was noted to have hyponatremia, tachycardia, and hypertension. Then, she had episodes of seizure and confusion. Gabapentin was prescribed for the control of seizure and pain before the diagnosis of acute intermittent porphyria was confirmed. Seizure did not occur after gabapentin. Pain severity also significantly reduced with visual analogue scale from 10 to 4. The severity of pain rebounded after gabapentin was withdrawn. When the diagnosis was proved, the neurovisceral pain further decreased with combination of morphine and gabapentin and subsided after treatment with hematin., Conclusion: Our report indicates that gabapentin can be considered in porphyria patients, especially when patients had seizures or acute abdomen, when morphine is not available or contraindicated, when abdomen pain transforms as chronic pattern, and when neuropathic pain occurs in extremities.