Vikelis Michail, Mitsikostas Dimos D
Athens Naval Hospital, Neurology Department, Athens, Greece.
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2007 Aug;6(4):251-7. doi: 10.2174/187152707781387279.
Glutamate (Glu) is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Its receptors are classified into ionotropic receptors, which are ion channels and include NMDA, AMPA and kainate receptors, named after the agonists that selectively bind to them, and metabotropic receptors, which are G-protein coupled receptors. The trigeminal system is considered to play a key role in migraine pathophysiology, trafficking pain signals from the head and face to the trigeminal nucleus caudalis. The role of glutamate in the pathophysiology of migraine is implicated by data from animal and human studies. Animal studies include experiments of cortical spreading depression, studies of c-fos protein expression in trigeminal nucleus caudalis, studies of plasma protein extravasation and electrophysiological studies. Human studies investigating the role of Glu in migraine pathogenesis measured the levels of Glu in plasma, platelets and cerebrospinal fluid, studied its effect on migraine symptoms and examined the effect of Glu in modulating sensitization. Findings from both the animal and the human studies suggest a link between glutamate and migraine and further suggest that glutamate plays a key role in migraine mechanisms. In the future, efforts should be made to further investigate the role of glutamate in migraine pathogenesis and, subsequently, in migraine treatment.
谷氨酸（Glu）是中枢神经系统中的主要兴奋性神经递质。其受体分为离子型受体（即离子通道，包括以选择性与其结合的激动剂命名的NMDA、AMPA和海人藻酸受体）和代谢型受体（即G蛋白偶联受体）。三叉神经系统被认为在偏头痛病理生理学中起关键作用，将头部和面部的疼痛信号传递至三叉神经尾核。动物和人体研究的数据表明了谷氨酸在偏头痛病理生理学中的作用。动物研究包括皮质扩散性抑制实验、三叉神经尾核中c-fos蛋白表达的研究、血浆蛋白外渗研究和电生理研究。调查Glu在偏头痛发病机制中作用的人体研究测量了血浆、血小板和脑脊液中Glu的水平，研究了其对偏头痛症状的影响，并检测了Glu在调节敏化中的作用。动物和人体研究的结果均表明谷氨酸与偏头痛之间存在联系，进一步表明谷氨酸在偏头痛机制中起关键作用。未来，应努力进一步研究谷氨酸在偏头痛发病机制中的作用，进而研究其在偏头痛治疗中的作用。
