The pharmacological control of neuronal excitability in the retinal spreading depression model of migraine.

Spreading Depression is the underlying patho physiological mechanism for the neurological symptoms of migraine aura and is thought to play a major role in triggering migraine. Therefore it seems reasonable to use the Spreading Depression as a pharmacological tool for anti migraine drugs. Drugs that are able to alter parameters of Spreading Depression should also influence appearance and course of migraine attacks. Concerning the classification on the different mechanisms of drug action, especially the retinal Spreading Depression is useful, due to the separation of vascular and neuronal effects. In this study we investigated substances from different classes of common anti migraine drugs on different parameters of the retinal spreading depression. The results are discussed according to the classification of the drug.