Therapeutic Potential of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase, Monoacylglycerol Lipase, and N-Acylethanolamine Acid Amidase Inhibitors

J Med Chem. 2017 Jan 12;60(1):4-46. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00538. Epub 2016 Nov 14.

Abstract

Fatty acid ethanolamides (FAEs) and endocannabinoids (ECs) have been shown to alleviate pain and inflammation, regulate motility and appetite, and produce anticancer, anxiolytic, and neuroprotective efficacies via cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) or type 2 (CB2) or via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPAR-α) stimulation. FAEs and ECs are synthesized by a series of endogenous enzymes, including N-acylphosphatidylethanolaminephospholipase D (NAPE-PLD), diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL), or phospholipase C (PLC), and their metabolism is mediated by several metabolic enzymes, including fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA), or cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2). Over the past decades, increasing the concentration of FAEs and ECs through the inhibition of degrading enzymes has been considered to be a viable therapeutic approach to enhance their antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as to protect the nervous system.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amidohydrolases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Amidohydrolases / therapeutic use*
  • Animals
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Monoacylglycerol Lipases / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Monoacylglycerol Lipases
  • Amidohydrolases
  • NAAA protein, human
  • fatty-acid amide hydrolase