IHC 2021 | Glutamate receptor antagonists as migraine treatment

Anna Andreou, PhD, King’s College London, London, UK, discusses the potential use of glutamate receptor antagonists as treatments for migraine. Previous studies using these antagonists, such as AMPA receptor antagonists, kainate receptor antagonists, and the mGlu5 allosteric modulator, failed to progress in clinical trials. Dr Andreou suggests that there have not been many developments in this area because glutamate is challenging to target as it is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. Dr Andreou also proposes that potential future developments could include using novel therapeutics to modulate glutamatergic transmission indirectly rather than blocking glutamate receptors directly. This interview took place during the International Headache Congress 2021.