title: A review of rizatriptan, a quick and consistent 5-HT1B/1D agonist for the acute treatment of migraine.
abstract: Rizatriptan is a second-generation triptan marketed as 5 and 10 mg tablets and rapidly disintegrating wafer formulations. In > 5000 acute migraine patients enrolled in short-term trials and almost 1800 patients in long-term, open-label trials treating approximately 47000 attacks, rizatriptan was effective and well-tolerated. Controlled head-to-head data and a meta-analysis of 53 randomised, placebo-controlled trials of oral triptans in > 24000 patients have shown that rizatriptan 10 mg offers efficacy advantages over oral sumatriptan 50 and 100 mg and other oral triptans, both in terms of speed of onset of action and consistency. These advantages may reflect its improved pharmacological profile over sumatriptan in terms of higher oral bioavailability and a shorter time to maximum concentration. The wafer formulation offers the convenience of being administered without water. As a result of its superior efficacy profile and generally good tolerability, rizatriptan can be considered as a first-line treatment for acute migraine.
authors.affiliation: Service of Neurology, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla (UC), Spain. juliopascual@telefonica.net
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pascual
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000284:Administration, Oral; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004347:Drug Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D058825:Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Agonists; D014230:Triazoles / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014363:Tryptamines
chemical_list: D058825:Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Agonists; D014230:Triazoles; D014363:Tryptamines; C093622:rizatriptan