Eugenio Torre

Menstrual Migraine: New Biochemical and Psychological Aspects

SYNOPSIS

Psychological aspects of weekend headache sufferers in comparison with migraine patients.

SYNOPSIS

Menstrual migraine: A possible pathogenic implication of platelet function

It has been suggested that migraine is a blood disorder caused by a primary abnormality of platelet behaviour. We have studied in different phases of the cycle of 11 healthy normal women and 13 patients suffering from menstrual migraine: 1. The platelet aggregation induced in vitro by ADP, collagen and ristocetin; 2. The platelet sensitivity to prostacyclin (PSP); 3. The platelet content of 5-hydroxytryptimine (5-HT); 4. The possible correlation between these parameters and the plasma concentration of progesterone. The results demonstrate that in patients with menstrual migraine the platelet response to various aggregating agents is not modified compared to the controls, whereas there is a different response of the PSP to the modulating effect of plasma progesterone. Moreover, in the same patients the platelets have an increased capability of accumulating 5-HT during the perimenstrual phase of the cycle. This suggests that platelet dysfunction may play a role in the pathogenesis of menstrual migraine.

Effect of LSD-25 and 1-methyl-d-lysergic acid butanolamide on rat brain and platelet serotonin levels

Factorial analysis of rat cerebral 5-HT values observed following intraperitoneal LSD-25 and UML (1-methyl-d-lysergic acid butanolamide) showed that the highly significant decrease induced by both drugs was independent of dose and that the effect of both drugs was the same. Increased platelet 5-HT values were also obtained with each drug. These findings suggest that the psychotomimetic effect of LSD-25 is not due to changes in cerebral 5-HT, since a relationship can probably be postulated between such an effect in man and the effect of LSD-25 on conditioned behaviour in the rat. It is also felt that the fact that these drugs decrease and increase cerebral and platelet values respectively may be of assistance in the interpretation of data relating to platelet 5-HT patterns in man under psychiatric conditions and during treatment with psychotropic drugs.

The relation between cerebral serotonin levels and conditioned behaviour in the rat following the administration of LSD-25 and UML

Successive daily injections of LSD-25 and UML (1-methyl-d-lysergic acid butanolamide) caused progressive depression of brain 5-HT levels in the rat. On the fourth day, the decrease was significant with respect to the highly significant fall observed after a single administration, whereas it had been shown earlier that conditioned behaviour is no longer affected by LSD-25 after 3 days and that simultaneous administration of a single dose of LSD-25 and UML is equally ineffective in this respect. Its depression of 5-HT levels, however, has now been shown to be equal to that of LSD-25 alone at doses that influence conditioned behaviour. The findings indicate that changes in such behaviour are not dependent on brain 5-HT levels and that no link exists between such levels and the psychotomimetic effect of LSD-25 in man.