Semi-Automated Recording of Facial Sensitivity in Rat Demonstrates Antinociceptive Effects of the Anti-CGRP Antibody Fremanezumab

• Published in: Neurology international Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 622 - 637
• Main Authors: Benedicter, Nicola, Messlinger, Karl, Vogler, Birgit, Mackenzie, Kimberly D, Stratton, Jennifer, Friedrich, Nadine, Dux, Mária
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 29-04-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibodies; behavioral model; calcitonin gene-related peptide; Experiments; Females; fremanezumab; Laboratory animals; mechanical sensitivity; Migraine; monoclonal antibody; Sucrose; thermal sensitivity; thermal sensitivity; calcitonin gene-related peptide; behavioral model; fremanezumab; mechanical sensitivity; monoclonal antibody; migraine symptoms
• ISSN: 2035-8385; 2035-8377; 2035-8377
• DOI: 10.3390/neurolint15020039

Migraine pain is frequently accompanied by cranial hyperalgesia and allodynia. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is implicated in migraine pathophysiology but its role in facial hypersensitivity is not entirely clear. In this study, we investigated if the anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody fremanezumab, which is therapeutically used in chronic and episodic migraines, can modify facial sensitivity recorded by a semi-automatic system. Rats of both sexes primed to drink from a sweet source had to pass a noxious mechanical or heat barrier to reach the source. Under these experimental conditions, animals of all groups tended to drink longer and more when they had received a subcutaneous injection of 30 mg/kg fremanezumab compared to control animals injected with an isotype control antibody 12-13 days prior to testing, but this was significant only for females. In conclusion, anti-CGRP antibody, fremanezumab, reduces facial sensitivity to noxious mechanical and thermal stimulation for more than one week, especially in female rats. Anti-CGRP antibodies may reduce not only headache but also cranial sensitivity in migraineurs.