Dysbiosis and Migraine Headaches in Adults With Celiac Disease

Abstract

One of the most significant illnesses associated with gluten is celiac disease, which encompasses many conditions. It is generally recognized that neurological manifestations can occur either at the time of the disease onset or as the illness continues to develop. One of the main clinical presentations of celiac disease is headache, either in the form of migraine or in an unspecific form. Migraine pathophysiology is intricate and still poorly understood. Several mechanisms involving the gut-brain axis have been proposed to explain this association. These include the interaction of chronic inflammation with inflammatory and vasoactive mediators, the modulation of the intestinal immune environment of the microbiota, and the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. However, further research is required to fully comprehend the fundamental mechanisms and pathways at play. This review aims to give a narrative summary of the literature on celiac disease's neurological symptoms, particularly migraines, and to assess any potential associations to dysbiosis, an imbalance in the microbiome.

Keywords: celiac disease and microbiota; celiac disease and migraine; gluten and microbiota; gut-brain axis; microbiota and migraine.

Figure 1. Mechanisms by which gut bacteria maintain a healthy balance in the gut-brain axis

Hodan Qasim, the first author, created this figure. The paper Gut-brain Axis and migraine headache: a comprehensive review [3]​​, an article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, served as the source for the figure. CGRP: Calcitonin gene-related peptide, CRH: Corticotrophin-releasing hormone, HPA: Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, LPS: Lipopolysaccharides, IL: Interleukin, TNFα: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha