OCCURRENCE AND POSTMORTEM GENERATION OF ANANDAMIDE AND OTHER LONG-CHAIN N-ACYLETHANOLAMINES IN MAMMALIAN BRAIN

Long-chain N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) were assayed in pig, sheep and c ow brain by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of their ter tert.-bu tyldimethylsilyl derivatives in the presence of deuterium-labeled inte rnal standards, Immediately after death, total NAEs ranged from about 2.7 mu g/g wet weight (sheep, cow) to 6.5 mu g/g wet weight (pig) and consisted almost exclusively (99%) of saturated and monounsaturated sp ecies, Anandamide (20:4n-6 NAE) comprised about 1% of total NAE in pig and cow brain, but was absent in freshly extracted sheep brain, When pig brain was analysed after 0.5, 1, 3, 4 and 23 h at ambient temperat ure, NAE levels were found to increase substantially over the entire t ime period with 20:4n-6 NAE formation exhibiting a time lag compared t o that of saturated and monounsaturated NAEs.