anadamide


anadamide

(an-ad'a-mīd), Endogenous ligand for the cannabinoid receptor.

anadamide

An endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitter, which is synthesised from N-arachidonoyl phosphatidylethanolamine and degraded by fatty acid amide hydrolase. Anadamide has CNS effects when it binds to CB1 cannabinoid receptor, and peripheral effects when it binds to CB2. It acts as an endogenous ligand for vanilloid receptors, which transduce acute and inflammatory pain signals, by activating protein kinase C. It also impairs working memory, is important for implantation of early embryos at the blastocyst stage and appears to be involved in regulating feeding behaviour and neural generation of motivation and pain.