Editing Triptan (section)

{{Short description|Class of pharmaceutical drugs}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Tryptan]] (the trade name of amino acid tryptophan) or the hydrocarbon [[triptane]] or [[Oxitriptan]]}}
{{Infobox drug class
| Name             = Triptans
| Image            = Sumatriptan.svg
| ImageClass       = skin-invert-image
| Caption          = [[Chemical structure]] of [[sumatriptan]], the prototypical triptan
| Use              = [[Migraine]], [[cluster headache]]
| Biological_target= [[5-HT1B receptor|5-HT<sub>1B</sub> receptor]],<br/>[[5-HT1D receptor|5-HT<sub>1D</sub> receptor]]
| ATC_prefix       = N02CC
}}

'''Triptans''' are a family of [[tryptamine]]-based [[medication|drugs]] used as [[abortive medication]] in the treatment of [[migraine]]s and [[cluster headache]]s. This drug class was first commercially introduced in the 1990s. While effective at treating individual headaches, they do not provide preventive treatment and are not considered a [[cure]]. They are not effective for the treatment of [[tension headache|tension–type headache]],<ref name="Mutschler">{{cite book|last=Mutschler|first=Ernst|author2=Gerd Geisslinger |author3=Heyo K. Kroemer |author4=Sabine Menzel |author5=Peter Ruth |title=Arzneimittelwirkungen|publisher=Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft|location=Stuttgart|date=2013|edition=10|pages=233–4|isbn=978-3-8047-2898-1|language=de}}</ref> except in persons who also experience migraines.<ref name="Green 2015">{{Cite book|title=Headache and Migraine Biology and Management|last=Green|first=Mark W.|publisher=Academic Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-12-800901-7|editor-last=Diamond|editor-first=Seymour|page=44|chapter=Overview of Migraine: Recognition, Diagnosis, and Pathophysiology|editor-last2=Cady|editor-first2=Roger K.|editor-last3=Diamond|editor-first3=Merle L.|editor-last4=Green|editor-first4=Mark W.|editor-last5=Martin|editor-first5=Vincent T.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-acBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|via=GoogleBooks|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506021431/https://books.google.com/books?id=h-acBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|archive-date=2018-05-06}}</ref> Triptans do not relieve other kinds of [[pain]].

The drugs of this class act as [[agonists]] for [[serotonin]] [[5-HT1B receptor|5-HT<sub>1B</sub>]] and [[5-HT1D receptor|5-HT<sub>1D</sub>]] receptors at blood vessels and nerve endings in the brain. The first clinically available triptan was [[sumatriptan]], which has been marketed since 1991. Triptans have largely replaced [[ergotamine]]s, an older class of medications used to relieve migraine and cluster headaches.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Antonaci|first1=Fabio|last2=Ghiotto|first2=Natascia|last3=Wu|first3=Shizheng|last4=Pucci|first4=Ennio|last5=Costa|first5=Alfredo|date=2016|title=Recent advances in migraine therapy|journal=SpringerPlus|volume=5|page=637|doi=10.1186/s40064-016-2211-8|issn=2193-1801|pmc=4870579|pmid=27330903 |doi-access=free }}</ref>