Could ionic regulation disorders explain the overlap between meniere’s disease and migraine?

Ménière's disease (MD) is an inner ear disorder characterized by a burden of symptoms and comorbidities, including migraine. In both disorders, ionic dysregulation may play a role as a predisposing factor. In recent years. aquaporins have been widely investigated, but the results are far from conclusive. We recently studied the genetics of ionic transporters and the hormone endogenous ouabain as predisposing factors for development of MD. In particular, we found two genetic polymorphisms associated with MD: 1) rs3746951, a missense variant (Gly180Ser) in the salt-inducible kinase-1 (SIK1) gene encoding a Na+, K+ ATPase; 2) rs487119, an intronic variant of gene SLC8A1 coding for a Na+, Ca++ exchanger (NCX-1). Ionic concentration in the brain also plays a role in the pathophysiology of migraine. In this brief review we summarize what has been published on MD and migraine.