Migraine is a chronic trigeminal
pain condition that affects the daily lives of a large part of our population. Its debilitating
headache attacks, with increased sensitivity to multiple forms of stimuli, force many patients to rely on over the counter
analgesics and resort to abuse of prescription medications, particularly
opioid agonists. In the latter case, the indiscriminate medication-driven activation of the
opioid system can lead to undesired side effects, such as the augmentation of
hyperalgesia and
allodynia, as well as the chronification of the attacks. However, we still lack information regarding the impact of
migraine attacks and their relief on the function of μ-
opioid receptor (μOR) mediated neurotransmission, the primary target of
opioid medications. This line of inquiry is of particular importance as this
neurotransmitter system is arguably the brain's most important endogenous mechanism involved in
pain regulation, and understanding this endogenous mechanism is crucial in determining the effectiveness of
opioid medications. Recently, new advances in molecular neuroimaging and neuromodulation have provided important information that can elucidate, in vivo, the role of the endogenous
opioid system in
migraine suffering and relief.