Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA, N-hexadecanoylethanolamide) is an endogenous compound belonging to the family of N-acylethanolamines. PEA has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and is very well tolerated in humans. In the present article, the basal pharmacology of PEA is reviewed. In terms of its pharmacokinetic properties, most work has been undertaken upon designing formulations for its absorption and upon characterising the enzymes involved in its metabolism, but little is known about its bioavailability, tissue distribution, and excretion pathways. PEA exerts most of its biological effects in the body secondary to the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α), but PPAR-α-independent pathways involving other receptors (Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), GPR55) have also been identified. Given the potential clinical utility of PEA, not least for the treatment of pain where there is a clear need for new well-tolerated drugs, we conclude that the gaps in our knowledge, in particular those relating to the pharmacokinetic properties of the compound, need to be filled.
IFNγ treatment mobilized endocannabinoid and related NAE levels in T84 cells. However, blockade of anandamide or NAE hydrolysis was insufficient to negate the deleterious effects of this cytokine upon the permeability barrier of the cell monolayers.
Background: Chronic pain education is an essential determinant for optimal chronic pain management. Given that attitudes and preferences are involved in making treatment decisions, identifying which factors are most influential to final year medical students' and General Practitioners' (GPs) chronic pain management choices is of importance. This study aims to explore what factors influence chronic pain management. Furthermore, by comparing finalyear medical students and GPs in Sweden we investigated how these influential factors change over time, and possible differences between final year medical students in Sweden and Australia. Methods:We employed a best worst scaling experiment (BWS), a stated-preference method grounded in random utility theory, to explore the importance of factors influencing chronic pain management.Results: All three cohorts considered the patients' pain description and previous treatment experience as being most important factors in making treatment decisions, whilst their demographics and voices or facial expressions while describing their pain were considered the least important. Factors such as social support, patient preferences and treatment adherence were, however, disregarded by all cohorts in favour of pain assessment factors such as pain ratings, description and history. Swedish medical students and GPs show very high correlation in their choices, although the GPs consider their professional experience as more important compared to the students. Conclusion:The present study suggests that the relative importance of treatment factors are cemented early, and thus underline the critical importance of improving pain curricula during undergraduate medical education.
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