Cited by 159Cannabis and Cannabinoid ResearchEicosanoids and Hypertension PharmacologyFatty Acid Research and Health

The Biodisposition and Metabolism of Anandamide in Mice

Willoughby, Karen A., Moore, Sandra F., Martin, Billy R., Ellis, Earl F.·1997·The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Abstract

The endogenous cannabinoid anandamide (AN) has been reported to produce pharmacological effects similar to those of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol but with a shorter duration of action. Also, AN is known to be metabolized to arachidonic acid. The purpose of this study was to examine the time course of distribution and metabolism of AN. Male mice were each administered 20 microCi 3H-AN and 50 mg/kg AN (i.v.). At 1, 5, 15 and 30 min after administration, the animals were sacrificed, and various tissues were removed, solubilized and counted to determine the distribution of 3H. Also, samples from brain, adrenal gland and plasma were extracted with ethyl acetate and analyzed by HPLC to separate 3H-labeled AN, arachidonic acid and other metabolites. AN was detectable in brain by 1 min after injection. At 1 min after injection, the rank order of radioactivity per milligram or microliter of tissue was adrenal > lung > kidney > plasma > heart > liver > diaphragm > brain > fat. Although the 1 and 5 min metabolic profiles of brain 3H showed that AN was clearly present, most AN had already been transformed to arachidonic acid and other polar metabolites, and there were almost no detectable brain levels of AN at 15 and 30 min. In plasma and adrenal gland, AN was the predominant form at 1 and 5 min. Our experiments confirm that AN quickly reaches the brain and suggest that rapid metabolism of AN plays a key role in the time course of the pharmacological activity of this naturally occurring cannabinoid receptor ligand.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0022-3565(24)36812-0

Cites

16 of 16 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Willoughby, K. A., Moore, S. F., Martin, B. R., & Ellis, E. F.
Affiliations
Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
Corresponding author
Ellis, Earl F.
Venue
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1997-07
Volume
282
Issue
1
Pages
243-247
ISSN
0022-3565 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2259059236
Cited by
159
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
FWCI
6.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01da008677-03)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA-08677)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Eicosanoids and Hypertension Pharmacology
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
Keywords
anandamide, endocannabinoids, tissue distribution, metabolism, arachidonic acid, brain, adrenal gland, plasma, polar metabolites, cannabinoid receptor ligands, pharmacokinetics
MeSH terms
Animals, Arachidonic Acids, Brain, Cannabinoids, Male, Mice, Inbred ICR, Motor Activity, Tissue Distribution, Mice, Polyunsaturated Alkamides, Endocannabinoids

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review