title: Regulation of anandamide tissue levels by N-arachidonylglycine.
abstract: N-arachidonylglycine (NAGly), the carboxylic analog of the endocannabinoid anandamide, occurs in rat and bovine brain as well as in peripheral sites and shows activity against tonic, formalin-induced pain. It was also observed, using cell membrane preparations, that it inhibits the hydrolytic activity of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) on anandamide (N-arachidonylethanolamide). These data suggested that it may serve as an endogenous regulator of tissue anandamide concentrations. In this report, we show findings derived from mass spectrometric analyses, indicating that blood levels of anandamide in rats given 10 mg/kg p.o. of NAGly were increased significantly by more than 9-fold when compared with vehicle-treated controls. In vitro evidence in RAW 264.7 cells using a deuterium-labeled NAGly demonstrated that it was not a precursor or source of arachidonic acid for the observed 50% rise in anandamide levels, suggesting that the increase was due to some effect other than increased biosynthesis of anandamide. Moreover, the findings presented here suggest that NAGly can serve as a model for the design of agents to provide pharmacological control of tissue anandamide concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Room 803, New Research Building, 264 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. sumner.burstein@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: Sumner H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Burstein
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Petros
authors.forename: Ronald G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Rossetti
authors.forename: J Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Zurier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D005998:Glycine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D009000:Monocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D053284:Polyunsaturated Alkamides
chemical_list: D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D063388:Endocannabinoids; C465623:N-arachidonylglycine; D053284:Polyunsaturated Alkamides; D005998:Glycine; C078814:anandamide