FOCUS ON NARATRIPTAN - AN ORAL 5-HT1 RECEPTOR AGONIST FOR ACUTE TREATMENT OF MIGRAINE

Naratriptan HCL is the third oral 5-HT1 receptor agonist approved for acute treatment of migraine. Compared with sumatriptan succinate, the first oral 5-HT1 receptor agonist approved for this use, naratriptan h as marked lipophilicity, a long half-life, and excellent bioavailabili ty. In clinical trials, the approved doses of 1 mg and 2.5 mg have bee n more effective than placebo, although 1 mg appeared to be less effec tive than the higher dose. Direct comparative trials have shown sumatr iptan to produce a higher 4-hour response rate than either 1 or 2.5 mg of naratriptan. Moreover, no 2-hour response data are available for n aratriptan. Headache recurrence rates, however, have been significantl y lower with naratriptan than with sumatriptan. Adverse effects associ ated with naratriptan have been consistent with those occurring with o ther 5-HT1 agonists, although a lower incidence was observed with nara triptan in direct com parative trials with sumatriptan.