Researchers from the migraine and neurological pain group and the Paediatric Neurology group at Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) and from the Genetics Department at the Universitat of Barcelona (UB) and CIBER-ER have taken part, inside the International Consortium of Genetics of the Migraines, in the first complete study of the genome (GWAS) made in migraine without aura.

This work has identifyed four genes related to the predisposition to present the most frequent type of migraine: MEF2D, TGFBR2, PHACTR1 and ASTN2. Published in Nature Genetics, confirms that the predisposition to the migraine has a genetic character, though the environmental factors causes crisis and determine the frequency.

The participation of VHIR and UB in this international consortium (IHGC) with Dr. Patricia Pozo Rosich, Dr. Alfons Macaya and Dr. Bru Cormand, has consisted on contributing and studying more than 2.000 samples of 5.000 that have been studied proceeding from patients with migraine and 7.000 of healthy controls.

This type of studies only are possible tahnks international large-scale collaborations that allow to share a great number of samples, information, experience and resources of many researchers and countries.