Rapid oral transmucosal absorption of sumatriptan, and pharmacodynamics in acute migraine.

Objectives: (1) To determine whether sumatriptan can be absorbed across the oral mucosa, and, if so; then (2) to describe its pharmacokinetics; and (3) to investigate whether there are pharmacodynamic correlates of such pharmacokinetics in patients experiencing migraine attacks.

Methods: Two clinical trials. The first, in normal volunteers, compared the pharmacokinetic performance of a lingual spray (LS) formulation of sumatriptan (2 dose sizes, one of which in both the fed and fasted state) with an orthodox 50-mg sumatriptan tablet.