[Current views on pathophysiology of migraine. Part III: Biochemical hypothesis. The role of blood platelets]

Systematic studies on the biochemistry of migraine were first undertaken in early 1960s; they initially concerned serotonin metabolism. The studies were next extended, covering catecholamines, histamine, free fatty acids, selected peptides and hormones. The results were mostly disappointing and such studies were mostly given up. In the last years we have been witnessing the come back of the study on the role of serotonin in migraine as the neurotransmitter involved in the antinociception and vascular innervation. In the 1970s a great deal of studies on blood platelets as serotonin reservoir were undertaken in migraine patients.