Almotriptan in the treatment of migraine

Almotriptan is a new selective serotonin 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonist which i s chemically related to sumatriptan and is used in the acute treatment of m igraine. Almotriptan, like the rest of the triptans, acts by inducing vasoc onstriction of the meningeal arteries. The new drug has good oral bioavaila bility, and in clinical studies has been shown to be as effective or more e ffective than sumatriptan 100 mg in alleviating migraine headache and assoc iated symptoms (nausea, vomiting, phonophobia and photophobia) when adminis tered as a single oral or subcutaneous dose of 12.5 mg, this being the reco mmended dose. However, almotriptan has a very good tolerability profile, wh ich has been shown to be superior to that of sumatriptan in a comparative t rial. Therefore, almotriptan offers clear advantages over sumatriptan in th e acute treatment of migraine attacks. (C) 2001 Prous Science. All rights r eserved.