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Pharmacology of migraine

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Abstract

Some thirty years ago, methysergide was introduced as the first drug capable of preventing migraine attacks and proved to be remarkably effective [1,2]. Because many peripheral actions of serotonin were found to be antagonized by methysergide, attention was focused on circulating serotonin as a potentially important substance in the generation of headaches. However, over the years, interest in the humoral actions of serotonin waned because of a lack of supportive evidence. Today, there is an explosion of renewed interest in serotonin and headache, this time in its neurotransmitter role in the central nervous system (CNS) [3]. This progress report will focus on the lines of evidence that have led to perturbed serotonergic neurotransmission as a putative mechanism of migraine. It appears likely that the mode of action of the antimigraine drugs is stabilization of such perturbation by enhancing serotonergic neurotransmission [4].

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Raskin, N.H. (1990). Pharmacology of migraine. In: Jucker, E. (eds) Progress in Drug Research / Fortschritte der Arzneimittelforschung / Progrès des recherches pharmaceutiques. Progress in Drug Research / Fortschritte der Arzneimittelforschung / Progrès des recherches pharmaceutiques, vol 34. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7128-0_5

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