Pharmacological aspects of experimental headache models in relation to acute antimigraine therapy

• Published in: European Journal of Pharmacology 1999-06, Vol.375 (1), p.61-74
• Main Authors: De Vries, Peter, Villalón, Carlos M, Saxena, Pramod R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 5-HT receptor; 5-Hydroxytryptamine; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Disease Models, Animal; Forecasting; Headache - drug therapy; Humans; Medical sciences; Migraine; Migraine Disorders - drug therapy; Migraine Disorders - physiopathology; Migraine model; Models, Biological; Neurology; Ophthalmology; Orbit diseases; Receptors, Serotonin - classification; Receptors, Serotonin - drug effects; Serotonin; Serotonin Antagonists - pharmacology; Sumatriptan; Sumatriptan - therapeutic use; Triptan; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system
• ISSN: 0014-2999; 1879-0712
• DOI: 10.1016/S0014-2999(99)00197-1

The last decade has witnessed a tremendous progress in the acute therapy of migraine, with sumatriptan, belonging to a new class of drugs, now known as 5-HT 1B/1D/1F receptor agonists, leading the way. The undoubted success of sumatriptan stimulated the development of new triptans as well as other suitable pharmacological tools and experimental models to probe into complex migraine mechanisms. In this review, we discuss the main experimental models for migraine, against the background of the disease pathophysiology and 5-HT receptors considered most important for migraine therapy. We believe that the use of these migraine models will provide even better treatment for migraine patients in the next millennium.