Could the present mature triptan treatment change with the appearance of a new acute treatment of migraine?

Abstract

The appearance of sumatriptan in the 1990s was an epoch–making event. Since 2000, five types of triptans have become available for use in Japan. As a result, medical treatment for headaches has become more active and the quality of medical care has dramatically improved. Increasing experience with the use of triptan for the last 20 years has allowed medical professionals to overcome various problems such as the existence of nonresponders and adverse effects of triptan, and triptan treatment has thus matured. However, some patients with migraine do not benefit from the vasoconstrictive effect of triptan stimulated by the 5–hydroxytriptamine 1B receptor. The clinical application of selective 5–hydroxytriptamine 1F receptor agonists (ditans) and calcitonin gene–related peptide receptor antagonists (gepants) that can compensate for the shortcomings of triptan is now progressing, and we hope that such drugs will become the first–choice treatment among many patients with migraine.