Two late date reports:

Ann Pharmacother. 2008 Apr;42(4):543-9. Epub 2008 Mar 18.
Use of 5-HT1 agonists in pregnancy.

Evans EW, Lorber KC.

Department of Clinical and Administrative Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, LA, USA. eevans@ulm.edu

OBJECTIVE: To report and evaluate available data on the use of serotonin 5-HT(1) agonists (triptans) during pregnancy. DATA SOURCES: A PubMed search, limited to English-language articles on human subjects, was conducted (1990-December 2007) using the search terms pregnancy, migraine, and the individual triptan drug names. In addition, the manufacturers of all 7 available triptans were contacted regarding the existence of a pregnancy registry for their drug(s) and the availability of registry reports. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All retrospective and prospective studies reporting on pregnancy outcomes after the use of a triptan were included and critically evaluated. Data from all available manufacturer-sponsored pregnancy registries were also included. DATA SYNTHESIS: Safe and effective treatment of migraine during pregnancy is imperative. DATA INVOLVING SUMATRIPTAN AND, TO A LESSER EXTENT, NARATRIPTAN AND RIZATRIPTAN, EXIST PRIMARILY REGARDING EXPOSURE IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER. THESE DATA SHOW NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS OR POOR PREGNANCY OUTCOMES WHEN COMPARED WITH EXPECTED RATES IN THE GENERAL POPULATION OR WITH THE OBSERVED RATES IN CONTROL SUBJECTS. THERE IS VERY LITTLE INFORMATION REGARDING EXPOSURE IN MIDDLE AND LATE PREGNANCY. CONCLUSIONS: SUMATRIPTAN APPEARS TO BE A SAFE TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN WHO EXPERIENCE NEW-ONSET OR WORSENED MIGRAINES IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER. FURTHER OBSERVATION IS NEEDED PRIOR TO RECOMMENDING ITS USE IN LATER TRIMESTERS. BASED UPON AVAILABLE DATA, THE OTHER AGENTS IN THIS CLASS CANNOT BE RECOMMENDED FOR USE DURING PREGNANCY AT THIS TIME.

PMID: 18349309 [PubMed]
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Ther Drug Monit. 2008 Feb;30(1):5-9.
Triptans in pregnancy.

Soldin OP, Dahlin J, O'Mara DM.

Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA. os35@georgetown.edu

The triptans are a class of tryptamine-based drugs indicated for in the treatment of migraine headaches. The triptans act as serotonin (5-hydroxytriptamine) (5-HT) agonists by binding to various serotonin receptors, causing vasoconstriction and neuronal inhibition to alleviate migraines. There are 7 types of triptans currently available on the U.S. market: almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan. The objective of this study was to examine the use and effects of triptans in pregnancy. ALTHOUGH THREE OF THE TRIPTANS HAVE PREGNANCY REGISTRIES MAINTAINED BY THE MANUFACTURER, TRIPTAN USE IN PREGNANCY HAS NOT BEEN EXTENSIVELY STUDIED. INFORMATION ON THE USE OF SUMATRIPTAN DURING PREGNANCY IS RELATIVELY MORE ABUNDANT, BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN ON THE MARKET LONGER THAN THE OTHER TRIPTANS AND MAY ALSO HAVE A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF THE MARKET SHARE. THERE ARE NO DATA TO SUGGEST TERATOGENICITY FOR ANY OF THE TRIPTANS, ALTHOUGH PRETERM BIRTH RATES APPEAR TO BE ELEVATED.

Publication Types:
Review

PMID: 18223456