Anandamide

Anandamide (aka N-arachidonylethanolamide) is a natural product found in many animal tissues, as well as in some plants. Its structure and existence in the body led to it being termed an endocannabinoid; it was the first one to be discovered.

In 1992, noted cannabinoid chemist Raphael Mechoulam and collaborators at Hebrew University (Jerusalem), the University of Aberdeen (UK), and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa) isolated anandamide from mouse brains. Three years later, Cecilia J. Hillard and colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee) described how anandamide activates cannabinoid receptors in the rat brain via its hydrolysis to arachidonic acid¹ and ethanolamine².

In 2012, Mary E. Abood and co-workers at Temple University (Philadelphia) showed how anandamide and the similar endocannabinoid virodhamine³ interact with endocannabinoid receptors in the body to reduce inflammation. Specifically, they demonstrated that the G protein–coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) is the endocannabinoid target, not cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB₁) or type 2 (CB₂), as had been suspected.

The common names anandamide and virodhamine are derived from Sanskrit. In that ancient language, ananda means “happiness” or “joy”. Virodha means “opposition” or “resistance”. According to our reader who suggested anandamide, these “endogenous molecules trigger happy and angry or unhappy moods, respectively.”

1. CAS Reg. No. 506-32-1.
2. CAS Reg. No. 141-43-5.
3. CAS Reg. No. 287937-12-6.