Migraine and microflora
Bacteria living in the mouth are associated with migraines
American scientists have discovered a link between migraines and bacteria that live in the mouth. As it turned out, migraines can cause nitric oxide, which they produce.
Migraine is a disease, the most characteristic symptom of which is a headache of unknown origin. Scientists from the University of California at San Diego noticed that according to statistics, 80% of patients who took nitrate-containing drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases complain of migraines. According to scientists, the pain is caused not by nitrates themselves, but by nitric oxide NO, into which nitrates are converted in the body. But, as the researchers write, nitrates themselves will not turn into nitric oxide – our cells do not know how to do this. But the bacteria that live in our oral cavity can do it. Perhaps these bacteria are our symbionts and benefit by positively affecting the cardiovascular system.
Scientists have suggested that there is a connection between bacteria, nitric oxide and migraine, and have tested their assumption. They used data from the decoding of the metagenome, that is, all the genes of all bacteria, in 172 people. Samples for metagenome analysis were taken from the mouth. They compared the metagenomic analysis data with the results of a survey in which the subjects answered the question whether they suffered from migraines.
Metagenome analysis showed that those subjects who suffer from migraines had more bacteria in their mouths that convert nitrates into nitric oxide than those who did not complain of headaches. The difference is not very big, about 20%, but, according to scientists, it cannot be ignored. The researchers believe that it is necessary to continue research in this direction and find out the role of bacteria living in the mouth in the occurrence of migraines.
The study is published in the journal mSystems (Gonzalez et al., Migraines Are Correlated with Higher Levels of Nitrate-, Nitrite-, and Nitric Oxide-Reducing Oral Microbes in the American Gut Cohort Project).
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21.10.2016