title: Pain and beyond: fatty acid amides and fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
abstract: Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is responsible for the hydrolysis of several important endogenous fatty acid amides (FAAs), including anandamide, oleoylethanolamide and palmitoylethanolamide. Because specific FAAs interact with cannabinoid and vanilloid receptors, they are often referred to as 'endocannabinoids' or 'endovanilloids'. Initial interest in this area, therefore, has focused on developing FAAH inhibitors to augment the actions of FAAs and reduce pain. However, recent literature has shown that these FAAs - through interactions with unique receptors (extracellular and intracellular) - can induce a diverse array of effects that include appetite suppression, modulation of lipid and glucose metabolism, vasodilation, cardiac function and inflammation. This review gives an overview of FAAs and diverse FAAH inhibitors and their potential therapeutic utility in pain and non-pain indications.
authors.affiliation: Reddy US therapeutics, Dr Reddy Laboratories, Norcross, GA 30071, USA. perlecan@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sivaram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillarisetti
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Ish
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khanna
mesh_terms: D000577:Amides / Q000378:metabolism*; D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D000818:Animals; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D009765:Obesity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D043882:Receptors, Cannabinoid / Q000378:metabolism; D000099252:Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases
chemical_list: D000577:Amides; D000581:Amidohydrolases; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D005227:Fatty Acids; D043882:Receptors, Cannabinoid; D000099252:Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases