Abstract

Traditional therapies like simple analgesics, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and prokinetic and antiemetic compounds are nonspecific drugs for acute migraine attacks. And then ergotamine tartrate and dihydroergotamine(DHE) have been developed but because they have high affinities for a wide range of receptors, including dopamine, α- and β-adrenoceptors and serotonin receptors, clinical use of these drugs have been limited due to many side effects. Thus, the need for development of antimigraine drugs with higher specificity for serotonin receptors and with less side effects was recognized in the 1980s. The first specific 5-HT1B/1D agonist, injection form of sumatriptan, became clinically available in early 1990s. Its introduction prompted the search for new medications based on the neuropharmacology of sumatriptan. Very recently many new triptan drugs(zolmitriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, etc.) have been developed and seem to offer greater oral efficacy, a better adverse-events profile, a more rapid onset of action, and a better res- ponse consistency within patients from attack to attack, which could reduce migraine-associated symptoms. But their actual clinical data are limited so far, particularly in Koreans. In this review I will discuss the neuropharmacology and available clinical data of the triptans that are currently available or seem to become available in Korea. Korean Journal of Headache 2(1):27-40, 2001