van der Kuy Paul-Hugo M, Lohman Joseph J
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Toxicology, Maastricht Academic Hospital, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Pharm World Sci. 2003 Aug;25(4):146-51. doi: 10.1023/a:1024800512790.
Shortly after the invention of nitroglycerin (NTG), it was noticed that this substance is capable of inducing a violent headache. Only recently, it became known that this was due to the release of nitric oxide (NO) by NTG. As the molecular mechanism of migraine pain remains to be determined, NTG, being pro-drug for NO, has been used to study the aetiology and pathophysiology of migraine. Such studies with NTG- and also histamine-induced headaches, have led to propose that NO may be the causative molecule in migraine pain. The evidence supporting the role of NO in migraine is discussed, e.g. substances capable of inducing experimental vascular headache do so with NO as the common mediator, while drugs with antimigraine activity inhibit NO and the cascade of intracellular reactions triggered by NO. The importance of NO as a potential initiator of the migraine attack opens new directions for the pharmacological treatment of migraine and other vascular headaches.
硝酸甘油（NTG）发明后不久，人们就注意到这种物质会引发剧烈头痛。直到最近，才知道这是由于NTG释放一氧化氮（NO）所致。由于偏头痛疼痛的分子机制仍有待确定，NTG作为NO的前体药物，已被用于研究偏头痛的病因和病理生理学。这类使用NTG以及组胺诱发头痛的研究表明，NO可能是偏头痛疼痛的致病分子。文中讨论了支持NO在偏头痛中作用的证据，例如，能够诱发实验性血管性头痛的物质都是以NO作为共同介质，而具有抗偏头痛活性的药物会抑制NO以及由NO引发的细胞内反应级联。NO作为偏头痛发作潜在引发因素的重要性为偏头痛和其他血管性头痛的药物治疗开辟了新方向。
