Effect of sumatriptan, a new selective 5HT₁‐like agonist, on liquid gastric emptying in man

Paired studies were carried out on 12 healthy male subjects to compare the effect of intravenous doses of the 5‐HT₁‐like agonist sumatriptan (GR43175; 3 mg), 10 mg metoclopramide and saline control on the rate of gastric emptying of a radiolabelled liquid test‐meal. Intravenous administration of metoclopramide accelerated gastric emptying by decreasing the lag period, while intravenous administration of sumatriptan delayed gastric emptying by increasing the lag period. The observation that sumatriptan causes a delay in gastric emptying in normal healthy volunteers, but relieves nausea and vomiting during migraine attacks, suggests that sumatriptan may be acting via a central mechanism to relieve symptoms of nausea and vomiting associated with migraine.