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CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83(10): s00451812303
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1812303
Review Article

Headache and GLP-1 receptor agonists: when medications are therapeutic and when they contribute to the symptom

Authors


Funding The authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private or non-profit sectors to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Obesity is a complex metabolic disorder with significant implications for both individual and public health. It has been strongly linked to chronic headache conditions, including migraines and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Individuals with obesity who suffer from migraine are at increased risk of chronification, while weight reduction has been associated with improvement in IIH-related headaches, likely due to a decrease in cerebrospinal fluid pressure. These observations underscore the importance of weight management strategies as a therapeutic consideration in patients with obesity and headache disorders. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are pharmacological agents that mimic the hormone's endogenous activity. Analysis of selected studies highlights that these agents have emerged as a promising therapeutic option. The aim of this narrative review is to examine the role of GLP-1 RAs in the management of headaches, particularly in the context of IIH, migraine, and the gut–brain axis. Additionally, this review addresses the challenges associated with the use of this pharmaceutical class, including the potential for headaches as adverse effect, and identifies existing knowledge gaps that may guide future research.

Keywords

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists - Headache Disorders - Obesity - Migraine Disorders

Authors' Contributions

Conceptualization: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Data curation: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Formal analysis: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Project administration: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Resources: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Supervision: RGL; Validation: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Visualization: RGL, ETF, LMPG; Writing – original draft: ETF, LMPG; Writing–review & editing: RGL.


Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.


Editor-in-Chief: Hélio A. G. Teive (0000-0003-2305-1073).


Associate Editor: Pedro André Kowacs (0000-0001-7770-7475).




Publication History

Received: 07 February 2025

Accepted: 02 August 2025

Article published online:
27 October 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Erika Tavares Ferreira, Leidys Marina Pedrozo Garcia, Renata Gomes Londero. Headache and GLP-1 receptor agonists: when medications are therapeutic and when they contribute to the symptom. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83: s00451812303.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1812303