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AHS 2022 | Potential strategy to alleviate post-traumatic headaches

Vimala Bharadwaj, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, discusses a study evaluating a potential strategy to alleviate post-traumatic headaches by targeting the oxytocin receptors expressed on trigeminal nerve branches innervating the damaged calvarial periosteum. In a rodent model of post-traumatic headache, when compared to the animals which did not experience trauma, increased expression of the oxytocin receptors is observed in the trigeminal ganglion – suggesting the potential role of receptor modulation in this model. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that oxytocin receptors expressed on calvarial periosteum trigeminal sensory nerve terminals could be a potential target for oxytocin delivery for post-traumatic headache-related pain modulation. Direct oxytocin injection into the calvarial periosteum post-injury significantly reduced traumatic brain injury-induced allodynia for a short period, which can also be reversed by injecting oxytocin antagonists, demonstrating that the mechanism of action is via oxytocin in rodent models. This interview took place during the 2022 American Headache Society (AHS) Meeting in Denver, CO.