Endogenous anandamide- like compounds

Title : Endogenous anandamide- like compounds

Abstract:

Over the last few decades research on the cannabinoids has gone through several distinct phases: 1) research on the plant cannabinoids, mostly on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD); 2) research on the endogenous cannabinoids, mostly on anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG); and 3) research on anandamide-like endogenous fatty acid amides with amino acids and ethanol amines. 
Thousands of publications have been published on the plant cannabinoids and some of them are already in use as therapeutic drugs. Of particular interest is the non-psychotropic cannabinoid, CBD; it is an approved anti-epileptic drug and is being evaluated in many other therapeutic areas (for example, inflammation, cancer, bone fractures and auto-immune diseases). Similarly, cannabidiolic acid methyl ester, a stable synthetic derivative of cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), a major constituent of Cannabis sativa, proved to be effective in suppressing nausea and anxiety in rats and reducing depression-like behavior in animal models of depression. 
Endogenous fatty acid – amino acid amides have been shown to be of major importance in a large spectrum of biological functions and diseases. Thus, oleoyl serine, is an anti-osteoporotic molecule, anandamide and arachidonoyl serine possess antimicrobial activity against methicillin resistant S. aureus strains, arachidonoyl serine exerts neuroprotective effects following traumatic brain injury and oleoyl glycine prevents both nicotine conditioned place preference – an addiction animal model - and nicotine withdrawal-associated behaviors in mice and thus may possess efficacy in treating nicotine addiction. 
We can expect therapeutic advances in all areas.

Biography:

Mechoulam was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1930,He gained his first research experience in the Israeli Army working on insecticides.He received his M.Sc. in biochemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1952), and his Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute, Reḥovot (1958), with a thesis on the chemistry of steroids. After postdoctoral studies at the Rockefeller Institute, New York (1959–60), he was on the scientific staff of the Weizmann Institute (1960–65), before moving to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he became professor (1972) and Lionel Jacobson Professor of Medicinal Chemistry from 1975. He was rector (1979–82) and pro-rector (1983–85). In 1994 he was elected a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences. Mechoulam is one of the founding members of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines.