title: Activity of anandamide (AEA) metabolic enzymes in rat placental bed.
abstract: Endocannabinoids are endogenous lipid mediators, with anandamide (AEA) being the first member identified. It is now widely accepted that AEA influences early pregnancy events and its levels, which primarily depend on its synthesis by an N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) and degradation by a fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), must be tightly regulated. Previous studies demonstrated that AEA levels require in situ regulation of these respective metabolic enzymes, and thus, any disturbance in AEA levels may impact maternal remodeling processes occurring during placental development. In this study, the activities of the AEA-metabolic enzymes that result in the establishment of proper local AEA levels during rat gestation were examined. Here, we demonstrate that during placentation NAPE-PLD and FAAH activities change in a temporal manner. Our findings suggest that NAPE-PLD and FAAH create the appropriate AEA levels required for tissue remodeling in the placental bed, a process essential to pregnancy maintenance.
authors.affiliation: Biologia da Inflamação e Reprodução, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Porto, Portugal; Laboratório de Bioquímica, Departamento Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy; European Center for Brain Research (CERC)/Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Battista
authors.affiliation: Biologia da Inflamação e Reprodução, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Porto, Portugal; Laboratório de Bioquímica, Departamento Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Correia-da-Silva
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy; StemTeCh Group, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rapino
authors.affiliation: European Center for Brain Research (CERC)/Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Center of Integrated Research, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: m.maccarrone@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maccarrone
authors.affiliation: Biologia da Inflamação e Reprodução, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Porto, Portugal; Laboratório de Bioquímica, Departamento Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: natercia@ff.up.pt.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D063388:Endocannabinoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D010739:Phospholipase D / Q000378:metabolism; D010920:Placenta / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D053284:Polyunsaturated Alkamides / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D000099252:Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases
chemical_list: D000581:Amidohydrolases; D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D010739:Phospholipase D; D053284:Polyunsaturated Alkamides; D000099252:Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases; C527163:Napepld protein, rat; C078814:anandamide
keywords: Anandamide; Decidua; Fatty acid amide hydrolase; Placentation