[The role of serotonin in the pathogenesis and clinical presentations of migraine attack].

Peripheral blood platelets of 63 patients with migraine were stained by the Fontana-Masson method and serotonin (S) granules were determined in the interictal period, i.e. in 33 patients during the migraine attack and 24, 48 and 72 h after. Using immunoassay techniques ELIZA, concentration of soluble S (ng/ml) in the blood serum of 19 patients with migraine was analyzed during an attack of cephalgia. The high quantity of S granules per 100 platelets was found in the interictal period (469,3+/-22,4) that differed significantly from that of the control group (447,9+/-19,6). At the peak of attack, serotonin content decreased to 47,7+/-7,4 and concentration of soluble S increased to 345,5+/-39,1 ng/ml (in controls, the S content in the blood serum was 184,2+/-12,3 ng/ml). The content of platelet S reached the initial values during the first and the following days after the migraine attack. The data suggest the dysfunction related to S release from platelets to the blood plasma during migraine attack that may be used as an instrumental method for monitoring of its development.