Dural mast cell degranulation is a putative mechanism for headache induced by PACAP-38

Abstract

These findings correlate with clinical studies and support the hypothesis that mast cell degranulation is involved in PACAP-induced migraine. PACAP-38 has a much stronger degranulatory effect on rat peritoneal and dural mast cells than VIP and PACAP-27. The difference in potency between PACAP-38- and PACAP-27/VIP-induced peritoneal mast cell degranulation is probably not related to the PAC(1) receptor but is caused by a difference in efficacy on phospholipase C.