Ditans
I think of ditans as a relative of the triptans, like a younger sister, younger brother - Jessica Ailani MD
image by: Quinn Dombrowski
HWN Suggests
Ditans and Gepants
They’re very different drugs. You can say that a ditan is the sister to a triptan, and the major differences are that ditans penetrate into the central nervous system, meaning they go across the blood-brain barrier right into your brain and they get into the brain. Also, they don’t have vasoconstricting activity, meaning they don’t constrict your vessels around your heart, which is a theoretical possibility with the triptans. There’s still that possibility, and we are looking for drugs that avoid vascular action, so that’s why a ditan might be an advantage to the patient. And the results you see with ditans are typically in the range of what we see with triptans. So these drugs are not much…
Articles of Interest
Comparison of New Pharmacologic Agents With Triptans for Treatment of Migraine
New drug discovery programs shifted the focus to the development of 2 classes of drugs: ditans, a group of antimigraine drugs targeting 5-hydroxytryptamine1F (5-HT1F) receptors, and gepants, a group of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists.
Ditans for Migraine
One important difference is that triptans constrict blood vessels and ditans do not. Ditans may be an option for people with diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels. Triptans may not be safe for this group of people.
How Gepants and Ditans Complement Existing Therapies
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a protein that carries pain signals along nerves that are involved in generating the headache pain associated with migraine. Gepants work to block CGRP from attaching to its receptor and initiating those pain signals.
New Migraine Medications: Oral Gepants, Ditan Tablet, and More
Small molecule CGRP receptor antagonists may be utilized as migraine abortives or preventive. Plus, a look at the new intravenous CGRP inhibitor and the abortive ditan tablet.
The ditans, a new class for acute migraine: Minireview
Lasmiditan (LDT), a new drug, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October 2019 for acute migraines with or without aura. LDT belongs to a new class of drugs “-ditans,” in which the mechanism is different from the triptans since it does not show vasoactive effects.
Therapeutic novelties in migraine: new drugs, new hope?
The development of ditans, gepants and anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of migraine is one of the greatest advances in the migraine field. Lasmiditan, rimegepant and ubrogepant will extend our therapeutic armamentarium for managing acute migraine attacks when triptans are not effective or contraindicated due to cardiovascular disorders.
With new science comes new hope for migraine patients
REYVOWTM (lasmiditan) C-V, 50 mg and 100 mg tablets, Lilly’s new oral medication for the acute treatment of migraine, with or without aura in adults, gives patients the chance for rapid and complete elimination of migraine in two hours after a single dose, along with a patient’s most bothersome symptom of sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, or nausea...
