BAY-117082-driven NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition resolves nitro-glycerine (NTG) neuronal damage in in vivo model of migraine

Migraine is a common neuronal disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of headache associated with a higher prevalence in women than men. Several risk factors have been associated with migraine disease as genetic factors, gender, and age. Although understanding migraine pathophysiology is improved, it has been reported that NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome pathway overactivation can contribute to migraine progression. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of BAY-117082, an NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor, in a mouse model of nitroglycerin (NTG)-induced migraine. The in vivo model of migraine was induced by intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of NTG (dose of 10 mg/kg). Mice were treated intraperitoneally with BAY-117082 at doses of 1 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and 10 mg/kg, 5 min following NTG injection. After 4 h of NTG injection, the whole brain tissue with the rostral spinal cord were collected and used to perform further analysis. Our results demonstrated that BAY-117082 treatments (5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg) reduced pain attacks, hyperalgesia and photophobia more in female mice NTG-induced. Moreover, the treatment with BAY-117082 significantly reduced histological damage in the trigeminal nerve nucleus in female mice accordingly to significantly decreased in NLRP3 complex components expression levels such as ASC, IL-1β, IL-18, caspase-1 and TNF-α levels. Additionally, the treatment with BAY-117082 at both higher doses significantly modulated CREB/Erk/Akt pathways strictly correlated to the expression of neurotrophic factors. Taken together, obtained results confer new insight into the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway in migraine pathogenesis, suggesting that BAY-117082 could be considered a novel strategy therapeutics for migraine treatment despite unconventional drug use.