Title:Palmitoylethanolamide is a New Possible Pharmacological Treatment for the Inflammation Associated with Trauma
VOLUME: 13 ISSUE: 2
Author(s):Emanuela Esposito and Salvatore Cuzzocrea
Affiliation:Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Messina, Torre Biologica – Policlinico Universitario Via C. Valeria – Gazzi – 98100 Messina Italy.
Keywords:Acylethanolamines, inflammation, PPAR-alpha, SCI
Abstract:The endogenous fatty acid palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is one of the members of N-acyl-ethanolamines
family. PEA was identified more than five decades ago and was shown to reduce allergic reactions and inflammation in
animals along with influenza symptoms in humans. Interest in this compound faded, however, until the discovery that one
of its structural analogs, anandamide (arachidonoylethanolamide), serves as an endogenous ligand for cannabinoid
receptors, the molecular target of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in marijuana. Since this finding, PEA has been shown to inhibit
peripheral inflammation and mast-cell degranulation, as well as to exert neuroprotective and antinociceptive effects in rats
and mice. These actions are also mediated by PPAR-α activation and are accompanied by a decrease in nitric oxide
production, neutrophil influx, and expression of proinflammatory proteins such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)
and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). In addition to the hypothesis that PEA has potent immunoregulatory properties, recent
data have demonstrated that PEA may also play a key role in the regulation of complex systems involved in the
inflammatory response, pruritus, neurogenic and neuropathic pain. In this review, we discuss briefly the present
understanding therapeutic mechanisms of PEA and the novel possible PEA clinical use for the treatment of several
inflammatory diseases and trauma.
