title: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of endogenous cannabinoids in healthy and tumoral human brain and human cells in culture.
abstract: Endocannabinoids are lipid mediators thought to modulate central and peripheral neural functions. We report here gas chromatography-electron impact mass spectrometry analysis of human brain, showing that lipid extracts contain anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), the most active endocannabinoids known to date. Human brain also contained the endocannabinoid-like compounds N-oleoylethanolamine, N-palmitoylethanolamine and N-stearoylethanolamine. Anandamide and 2-AG (0.16 +/- 0.05 and 0.10 +/- 0.05 nmol/mg protein, respectively) represented 7.7% and 4.8% of total endocannabinoid-like compounds, respectively. N-Palmitoyethanolamine was the most abundant (50%), followed by N-oleoyl (23.6%) and N-stearoyl (13.9%) ethanolamines. A similar composition in endocannabinoid-like compounds was found in human neuroblastoma CHP100 and lymphoma U937 cells, and also in rat brain. Remarkably, human meningioma specimens showed an approximately six-fold smaller content of all N-acylethanolamines, but not of 2-AG, and a similar decrease was observed in a human glioblastoma. These ex vivo results fully support the purported roles of endocannabinoids in the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maccarrone
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Attinà
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cartoni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finazzi-Agrò
mesh_terms: D000577:Amides; D000818:Animals; D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry*; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000032:analysis*; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D004983:Ethanolamines / Q000032:analysis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D005989:Glycerides / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000737:chemistry*; D008579:Meningioma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D009829:Oleic Acids; D010169:Palmitic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D053284:Polyunsaturated Alkamides; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values; D013229:Stearic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D020298:U937 Cells
chemical_list: D000577:Amides; D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D002186:Cannabinoids; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D004983:Ethanolamines; D005989:Glycerides; C408368:N-stearoylethanolamine; D009829:Oleic Acids; D010169:Palmitic Acids; D053284:Polyunsaturated Alkamides; D013229:Stearic Acids; C033595:N-oleoylethanolamine; C005958:palmidrol; C094503:glyceryl 2-arachidonate; C078814:anandamide