MIGRAINE TO THE YEAR 2000

Although migraine is inextricably bound up with 5-hydroxytryptamine an d its many receptors, its precise mechanisms continue to elude us and there is still no clear evidence supporting either a vascular or neuro genic hypothesis unequivocally. What appears to distinguish migraine s ufferers from normal subjects may be a greater genetic sensitivity to a wide variety of triggering agents-even including nitric oxide and th e migraine aura, as well as those more usually recognized. Attention i s drawn to a possible role for neurotrophins, such as the hyperalgesia -provoking nerve growth factor (NGF) in particular, as well as basic f ibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF).