Zh Nevropatol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 1984 ; 84(9): 1313-6.

[Changes in blood serotonin levels in patients with migraine headaches before and after a course of reflexotherapy]

Markelova VF, Vesnina VA, Malygina SI, Dubovskaia LA.

The study of serotonin levels in the blood of 49 patients with migraine and and migrainous headaches revealed both elevations and decreases in its concentrations as compared to the average physiological norm, which seems to be occasioned by various severity of the disease course. In the majority of patients in the period of disease exacerbation prior to the treatment, the initial concentrations of blood serotonin were lowered. Acupuncture normalizes increased and slightly decreased levels of serotonin which is in agreement with a good and stable clinical response. At the same time acupuncture fails to affect considerably reduced levels of serotonin and only transient clinical improvement occurs in such cases. Thus, the determination of serotonin blood levels in patients with migrainous cephalgias may be employed in the assessment of the severity of the disease course and the prognosis of acupuncture effectiveness.