Palmitoylethanolamide - a natural body fat as antiinflammatory agent !

About Palmitoylethanolamide : Palmitoylethanolamide, is an endogenous fatty acid amide which has been demonstrated to bind to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α) , GPR55 and GPR119. PEA has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive properties. PEA is metabolized by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and N-acylethanolamine-hydrolyzing acid amidase (NAAA), the latter of which has more specificity towards PEA over other fatty acid amides.

For decades, it has been known that palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), is a potent anti-inflammatory substance that reduces both allergic symptoms and occurrences of rheumatic fever, but researchers understood little about how PEA works. But now Daniele Piomelli, the Louise Turner Arnold (Chair in Neurosciences at UCI), and colleagues found that levels of PEA are tightly regulated by immune system cells. In turn, PEA helps control the activity of these cells, which are called into action to fight infection, disease and injury in the body. In addition, they found that PEA - also present in foods like eggs and peanuts , is deactivated by a protein called N-acylethanolamine-hydrolyzing acid amidase, which is an enzyme that breaks down molecules controlling cell inflammation.

When given to rodents, the compound increased the levels of PEA in their immune cells and reduced the amount of inflammation elicited by an inflammatory substance. Furthermore, when administered to the spinal cords of mice after spinal cord injury, the compound decreased inflammation associated with the trauma and improved the recovery of motor function.

As most of the antiinflammatory drugs available these days have side effects, this drug may be a boon to the sufferers....

Ref : http://today.uci.edu/news/nr_PEA_091116.php