Testing Models for Genetic Determination in Migraine

Abstract

We collected two clinically matched samples of patients, one sample affected by migraine with aura the other by migraine without aura, to investigate the genetic determination of these conditions. A maternal and X-linked transmission for both these diseases was considered unlikely after pedigree analysis. Classical segregation analysis indicated a likely autosomal recessive kind of transmission for both. Reduced penetrance and the h² values, however, imply the presence of additional genetic and/or environmental factors controlling the phenotypic expression of migraine.