M. Maccarrone et al., Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of endogenous cannabinoids in healthy and tumoral human brain and human cells in culture, J NEUROCHEM, 76(2), 2001, pp. 594-601
Endocannabinoids are lipid mediators thought to modulate central and periph
eral neural functions. We report here gas chromatography-electron impact ma
ss spectrometry analysis of human brain, showing that lipid extracts contai
n anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), the most active endocannabi
noids known to date. Human brain also contained the endocannabinoid-like co
mpounds N-oleoylethanolamine, N-palmitoylethanolamine and N-stearoylethanol
amine. Anandamide and 2-AG (0.16 +/- 0.05 and 0.10 +/- 0.05 nmol/mg protein
, respectively) represented 7.7% and 4.8% of total endocannabinoid-like com
pounds, respectively. N-Palmitoyethanolamine was the most abundant (50%), f
ollowed by N-oleoyl (23.6%) and N-stearoyl (13.9%) ethanolamines. A similar
composition in endocannabinoid-like compounds was found in human neuroblas
toma CHP100 and lymphoma U937 cells, and also in rat brain. Remarkably, hum
an meningioma specimens showed an approximately six-fold smaller content of
all N-acylethanolamines, but not of 2-AG, and a similar decrease was obser
ved in a human glioblastoma. These ex vivo results fully support the purpor
ted roles of endocannabinoids in the nervous system.