Animal Models of Chronic Migraine: From the Bench to Therapy

Chronic migraine is a disabling progressive disorder without effective management approaches. Animal models have been developed and used in chronic migraine research. However, there are several problems with existing models. Therefore, we aimed to summarize and analyze existing animal models to facilitate translation from basic to clinical.

The most commonly used models are the inflammatory soup induction model and the nitric oxide donor induction model. In addition, K_ATP openers have also been used in model induction. Based on the above models, some molecular targets have been identified, such as glutamate receptors. However, each model has its shortcomings and characteristics, and there are still some common problems that need to be solved, such as spontaneous headache, evaluation criteria after model establishment, and identification methods.

In this review, we summarized and highlighted the advantages and limitations of the currently commonly used animal models of chronic migraine with a special focus on drug discovery and current therapeutic strategies, and discussed the directions that can be worked on in the future.