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- Björklund, Emmelie, 1985-
(author)
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The endocannabinoid system : a translational study from Achilles tendinosis to cyclooxygenase
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The endogenous cannabinoids anandamide (arachidonoyl ethanolamide, AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) exert their effect by activating cannabinoid receptors (CB). These receptors mediate a broad range of physiological functions such as beneficial effects in pain and inflammation, although little is known about the expression of CB receptors in human pain conditions. AEA and 2-AG are short- lived molecules due to their rapid cellular accumulation and metabolism. The enzymes primarily responsible for their degradation are fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) for AEA and monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL) for 2-AG. Inhibition of endocannabinoid metabolism is a potential approach for drug development, and there is a need for the identification of novel compounds with inhibitory effects upon FAAH and MGL.In Paper I of this thesis, the expression of CB1 receptors in human Achilles tendon was examined. We found expression of CB1 receptors in tenocytes, blood vessel wall as well as in the perineurium of the nerve. A semi-quantitative analysis showed an increase of CB1 receptors in painful human Achilles tendinosis.In papers II and III, termination of AEA signalling was investigated via inhibition of FAAH. In Paper II, Flu-AM1, an analogue of flurbiprofen, was investigated. The compound inhibited both FAAH and the oxygenation of 2-AG by cyclooxygenase-2. In Paper III the antifungal compound ketoconazole was shown to inhibit the cellular uptake of AEA in HepG2, CaCo-2 and C6 cell lines in a manner consistent with inhibition of FAAH.The role of FAAH in gating the cellular accumulation of AEA was investigated in Paper IV. FAAH has been shown to control the concentration gradient of AEA across the plasmamembrane in RBL2H3 cells, whereas no such effect is seen in other FAAH-expressing cell lines. To determine whether this effect is assay dependent or due to intrinsic differences between the cell lines, we assayed four cell lines with different levels of FAAH expression using the same methodology. We found that the sensitivity of FAAH uptake inhibition was not dependent on the expression level of FAAH, suggesting that factors other than FAAH are important for uptake.Paper V is focused on the inhibition of MGL. Prior to this study no selective inhibitors of the enzyme had been described. Thus, we screened a number of compounds for their inhibitory effect on MGL. Troglitazone was found to be an inhibitor of MGL, although its potency was dependent upon the enzyme assay used.
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| 2. |
- Ghafouri, Nazdar, 1980-
(author)
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Endocannabinoids and N-acylethanolamines in translational pain research : from monoacylglycerol lipase to muscle pain
- 2013
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the early nineties cannabinoid receptors, the main target for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana were identified. Shortly after their endogenous ligands, N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide, AEA) and 2-diacylglycerol (2-AG) were characterized. The enzymes primarily responsible for catalysing the degradation of AEA and 2-AG are fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL) respectively. AEA is a member of the N-acylethanolamine (NAE) class of lipids, which depending on the acyl chain length and number of double bonds can act as ligands for a variety of biological targets. Exogenous cannabinoids have long been reported to have analgesic effects, however the clinical usefulness of such substances is limited by their psychoactive effects. Inhibition of endocannabinoid degradation would mean enhancing the therapeutic effects without producing these unwanted side effects. In order to succeed in developing such compounds the pharmacology of the enzymes responsible for the degradation of endocannabinoids has to be thoroughly understood. When the preclinical part of this thesis was planned, FAAH had been well characterized whereas little was known as to the pharmacology of MGL. A series of compounds were tested in this first study aiming to find MGL-selective compounds. Although no compounds showed selectivity for MGL over FAAH, several interesting agents affecting both enzymes were identified.In order to increase the knowledge concerning which patient group would benefit from such treatment strategies it is important to investigate in which pain states the endocannabinoids/NAEs are altered. Thus the general aim of the clinical part of this thesis was to investigate the levels of endocannabinoids/NAEs in the interstitium of the trapezius muscle in women suffering from chronic neck/shoulder pain (CNSP) and chronic wide spread pain (CWP) and in healthy pain-free controls. Furthermore for the CNSP the effect of training, which is a commonly recommended treatment for these patients, on the levels of endocannabinoids/NAEs was also investigated. Microdialysis technique in the trapezius muscle was used for sampling and masspectrometry was used for analysing. Two NAEs,N-palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) and N-stearoylethanolamine (SEA), could be repeatedly measured. The levels of these two lipids were significantly higher in CNSP compared to CON. The result showed also that PEA and SEA mobilize differently in CWP compared to both CNSP and CON. Taken together the results presented in thesis represent an early characterization of the pharmacology of MGL and provides novel information on NAEs in chronic muscle pain.
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