Agomelatine Significantly Reduces Migraines Frequency & Severity

Jan 11, 2024

Photo Credit: Salim Hanzaz

A retrospective study with 400 participants found that daily administration of agomelatine for three months significantly reduced the frequency and severity of migraine attacks, indicating its potential as a preventive option for non-aura migraines.

The following is a summary of “Effectiveness of agomelatine on headache severity and frequency in episodic migraine without aura; a parallel randomized controlled trial study,” published in the January 2024 issue of Neurology by Farzin et al.

Researchers started a retrospective study to determine the effectiveness of agomelatine on the severity and frequency of migraine attacks.

They involved 400 participants, aged 18 to 60, experiencing episodic migraine without aura and not previously on preventive treatment. Among them, 100 eligible individuals who met the inclusion criteria and hadn’t received specific medications for other diseases were randomly assigned to intervention (25 mg agomelatine daily) or control (B1). Agomelatine’s impact on attack frequency, severity, mean monthly migraine days (MMD), and migraine disability assessment (MIDAS) were evaluated in a triple-blind setup. After 3 months, a post-test was administered, and data were analyzed using SPSS software.

The results showed that 100 patients underwent random assignment to intervention or control groups. Both the prescriber, physician, and data collector were unaware of patient group allocations. Before the intervention, no significant differences were observed in headache frequency per month (t=-0.182, df = 98, P=0.85), mean MMD (P=0.17), headache severity (P=0.076), and MIDAS (P=0.091). Significant differences emerged between groups in headache frequency per month (P=0.009) and mean MMD (P=0.025). Notably, significant differences were observed between pretest and post-test in headache severity (P<0.001) and MIDAS (P<0.001).